Punjabi University contract professors intensify protest demanding seventh Pay Commission implementation

Patiala: Punjabi University's contract assistant professors ramped up their protest on Friday here, staging a large demonstration at the vice-chancellor's office, demanding the implementation of the seventh Pay Commission. They also presented a memorandum to Punjab's social justice, empowerment, and minorities minister, Dr Baljit Kaur, who was at an event on the campus.
The minister acknowledged the legitimacy of the professors' demands and assured them that the state govt would fulfil those. She directed V-C Karamjit Singh to address the issue. Despite this, the university registrar rejected the demands, offering little explanation, defying both the minister's and the V-C's support for the teachers' cause.
Baljinder Singh, a representative from the Punjabi University Contract Teachers' Association (Pucta), said: "The regular, ad-hoc, and guest members of the faculty get paid under University Grants Commission's 2018 guidelines, which include the seventh Pay Commission. However, contract assistant professors are still paid based on the sixth Pay Commission's recommendations." He pointed out that all members of the faculty, including contractal staff, at Panjab University in Chandigarh are paid under the seventh Pay Commission.
With 150-odd highly qualified contractual professors working across the Patiala university's main campus, affiliated colleges, and neighbourhood campuses, the association has also pushed for regularisation of their employment. "Until then, at the very least, we demand the implementation of the seventh Pay Commission," Baljinder Singh added.
Tensions escalated when campus security blocked the protesters when they tried to meet the V-C again. The situation intensified when the professors surrounded the V-C's vehicle as he attempted to leave, leading to a second meeting invitation. Following this, the V-C forwarded the proposal to the Punjab finance department for approval, with a promise of resolution within 10 days. Pucta president Taranjit Kaur affirmed that the protest would continue until contract teachers received salaries under the seventh Pay Commission.
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