Temporary employees of Barasat varsity stage protest

The temporary employees of West Bengal State University (WBSU) in Barasat started demonstration in the campus on Tuesday, demanding to be made permanent in pay roll and better salary structure.

The employees claimed they have been working in the university, also known as Barasat University, since its inception. “But for the last nine years, we have not had any hike in salary. The authorities are paying no heed to our demand,” said a protesting employee.

There were around 60 employees who staged the demonstration at the university and reportedly gheraoed the Vice-Chancellor Basab Chowdhuri for a long time. However, the Vice-Chancellor himself, and other senior professors, refused to acknowledge that they were gheraod by the employees. They did not even inform the police to assist them at the campus.

Chowdhuri did, however, acknowledge that there was a protest at the campus. “Yes, they staged demonstration in the campus. I am aware of their problem. I have informed the matter to the state finance department, but did not get any reply,” he said.

The protesting employees alleged they do not even have a service contract and it is difficult to keep working with a poor salary package. “The university authorities never took our problem seriously. We have been tirelessly working for years, have worked overtime without demanding extra money, but the university is unperturbed,” the employees alleged.

The employees are demanding valid documents regarding their service agreement. “We will protest further in the future. It cannot be possible for us to do our job without valid documents. We will fight till the end,” said one of the protesting employees.

The WBSU was constituted with 59 colleges (including undergraduate, postgraduate and B.Ed colleges) in the district of North 24 Parganas, which were formerly affiliated with the University of Calcutta.

The university became functional from the academic session 2008–09. On May 26, 2008, these 59 colleges were transferred to the WBSU through a government notification.

The university began functioning under its first Vice-Chancellor professor Ashoke Ranjan Thakur.