The teachers of Government College University (GCU) Faisalabad have clearly refused to conduct the election and protested in front of the registrar’s office and staged a sit-in.
They demanded 15% disparity reduction allowance, after which they will join the training for election duties. Faculty members of GC University Faisalabad protested against the discriminatory attitude of the university administration and in favor of their demands. The protesters were led by President ASA Dr. Rizwanullah Kokab. General Secretary Dr. Kamran Khan, Vice President Dr. Imran Muslim, Vice President Dr. Habib Nadeem and a large number of other faculty members were also present on the occasion. The protesters first protested in front of the registrar’s office of the university and later protested and blocked Allama Iqbal Road in front of the university.
The Registrar Office of GC University Faisalabad issued a schedule for all teaching staff to join the training for election duties, on which severe anxiety was found among the teachers of GC University, and he had made it clear that 15% should be given in disparity reduction allowance (DRA), after which they will join the election training, otherwise all the teachers are united and if their demands are not accepted, they will stage a protest in front of the registrar’s office, but the demand of the teachers was not accepted by the university administration, on which the teachers left their teaching and protested today.
The university teachers gathered in front of the registrar’s office this morning and staged a sit-in in protest, which was led by Academic Staff Association President Dr. Rizwanullah Kokab. On this occasion, he said that the election duty of the university teachers will not be accepted, instead of the teachers engaged in examinations and research, the duties of the non-teaching university employees who volunteer their name should be assigned.
General Secretary Dr. Kamran Khan and other officials said that upon receiving the election training schedule, GC University teachers are very nervous. Teachers are always at the front page when it comes to rendering national service but when it comes to any legitimate benefits they are ignored as non-government employees as in the case of Disparity Reduction Allowance (DRA).
The teacher leaders said that in response to the election duty, all the teachers are united on this one demand that they will not be available for election training until the government resolves their exploitation. They added that on the one hand, the government is refusing to consider university teachers as civil servants and is denying them the 15% allowance given to government employees, but on the other hand, they are asking for election duty by declaring them as civil servants to take election duty, which is a proof of double standard of government.
They further said that midterm exams have started in GC University. Apart from this, research work is going on in all departments, in such a situation, sending senior university teachers for election duty is abuse of teachers and students. They clarified that the example of Punjab University, Quaid-i-Azam University and all other big universities is in front of everyone that election duty is not taken from the teachers there. They demanded the university registrar to withdraw the names of the teachers and send them to the non-teaching staff for election duty and the Election Commission should accept the names of the non-teaching staff.
The teacher leaders further said that in case of non-cooperation of the university administration, the protestors will be forced to block Chenab Chowk and all the responsibility will fall on the GC University administration. It should be noted that 15% disparity allowance is being given to the employees of all government institutions across Punjab from 2022, while the employees of the university were refused saying that you are not a civil servant but an employee of an autonomous institution and in this situation deadlock is maintained between university authorities and teachers.
Later, the two most senior professors of the university, Dr. Nasir Amin and Dr. Humayun Abbas, along with the registrar, Dr. Hudait Rasool, held talks with the protesters. In the negotiations, the registrar assured that the demands of the faculty members would be accepted. Non-teaching duties will not be taken from anyone other than those who volunteer. After successful negotiations, the protesters dispersed peacefully.
