Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 8: Continuing their strike for the 4th consecutive day, staff under Academic Arrangement in all the Government Polytechnics in Jammu division suspended work on Thursday and began indefinite dharna.
The protesting staff from Polytechnics of Jammu assembled at Exhibition Ground near Press Club and staged a dharna amidst raising of slogans in support of their demand for a regularization policy for them.
The protest dharna was held under the banner of All J&K Polytechnic Academic Arrangements Association, which is spearheading the ongoing agitation for regularization of the staff. They raised slogans in support of their demand.
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While addressing the protest demonstration, president of All J&K Polytechnic Academic Arrangements Association, Atul Sudan said that the Academic Arrangement staff, who served the department with all dedication and hard work for years together, was being terminated despite a court directions for not to replace them by the transfers or permanent fresh appointment. He alleged that the department was violating the court directions and also refusing to give the termination order in written.
“The department is not giving any thing in written to disengage or terminate us and also not allowing the particular staff to do the attendance,” he alleged and added that despite repeated pleas to the officials of Technical Education Department and Minister concerned, nothing serious was done for them.
Atul Sudan recalled that while appointing them, the department had played a mischief by using the term “appointed on contractual basis as academic arrangements and on consolidated salary”. “The department has used three terms; Academic, Contractual and consolidated also and whenever we approach authorities for the benefits of Contractual we are told that you are academics and whenever we demand the salary of Academics as per the Medical Education department, we are told that you are Consolidated as per the salary paid to you thus using this mystery of the words the department is depriving the Academic Arrangements staff from their rights,” he explained.
The Association president demanded that the terminated staff be allowed to rejoin the department again as per their continuation order from High Court of J&K. He further said that their demand of including them into JK Civil Services Act or to frame regularization policy for them should be addressed otherwise they will have to come on the roads for getting their due right.