NED’s non-teaching staff on strike till fulfilment of demands

Karachi

Non-teaching employees of the NED University of Engineering and Technology announced on Monday to observe an “indefinite” strike in response to the varsity administration’s refusal to accept their 12-point charter of demands.

The staff also staged a demonstration on Monday outside the office of NED vice chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Afzal Haque after which they handed over their charter of demands to him.

Though the vice chancellor informed the protesting employees that their demands would be met, he failed to state when that might be possible. The staff wanted all of their 12 demands to be met before Eid-ul-Fitr. Prof Haque assured them that the NED administration was working to resolve most of their demands.

The protesting staff accused the vice chancellor of availing four increments in the past three years when the employees were working under harsh conditions. The employees allege that the vice chancellor has been living in the guest house for the past three-and-a-half years and the university bore about Rs900,000 in lieu of its expense.

Their demands include immediate release of leave encashment and overtime allowances of the previous year, and medical reimbursement along with orders of permanent status of ad-hoc employees.

The non-teaching employees also object to the NED administration’s deduction of a certain amount from their salaries in lieu of insurance. However, the employees claim that the insurance company hasn’t been paid its dues for months.

The university staff also want inclusion of reputable hospitals on the NED’s panel of health institutions and increments for BPS-V employees as announced in July last year. 

The 12-point charter also includes the demand that the NED vice chancellor issue orders for meeting of the departmental promotional committee while time pay scale should be brought at par with other varsities of the province.

NED Registrar Ghazanfar Ali, while talking to The News, stated that the administration was aware of the problems faced by its staff and was working to resolve their issues.

“The employees have already been told that work to accept 11 out of their 12 demands is already under way,” he said.

“But we cannot at this moment offer leave encashment without approval from the Public Accounts Committee as per rules and regulations. Even when the university has been under tremendous financial pressure due to over-employment, not a single employee or staffer has been laid off or paid late.”