Newly-elected president of All Odisha University Employees’ Federation (AOUEF) and veteran trade union leader Bhabani Prasad Singh has urged upon the Government for fulfilment and implementation of the 12-point charter of demands of the university employees and for granting more autonomy to the universities in the State.
The State Government has virtually reduced the status of the universities at par with aided institutions in the State, he alleged here on Monday.
The demands include grant of autonomy to the universities, to maintain uniformity in regard to the age of retirement of university employees at 60 years for all the universities including the North Odisha University, Fakir Mohan University and VSSUT, amendment of OURP Rules, 1991 and pending finalisation of the amendments, the promotional avenues be made at par with the Odisha Secretariat, application for GIS benefits to the employees of the Fakir Mohan and North Odisha Universities at par with the State Government, implementation of a new cadre rule for the university employees at par with the employees of Odisha Secretariat and creation of ASO and Desk Officer posts for all universities, payment of a monthly medical allowance of `5,000 per month to all university employees in view of the spiralling cost of medicines, application of the State Government norms for promotion of technical employees, representation of nonteaching employees in the university bodies such as Syndicate, Senate and Board of Management, filling up of all vacant posts both at base and promotional levels, regularisation of all employees engaged on contractual basis, daily wages basis, NMRs, consolidated work-charged employees including those engaged in university libraries to render technical assistance, finalisation of modalities of the new pension scheme and its implementation, and payment of 20 per cent HRA to university employees staying under the territorial ambience of newly-created Municipal Corporations.
If these longstanding demands are not met, the university employees would be forced to resort to agitation to get justice, Singh added.
Mention may be made that these demands were adopted at the tenth conference of the All Odisha University Employees’ Federation in the OUAT premises in Bhubaneswar on February 5.
The meeting also elected the federation’s new office-bearers for the year 2014. Those unanimously elected include Bhabani Prasad Singh (president), Biranchi N Ray (general secretary) and Susant Kumar Mohapatra and Upendra N Palo (vice-presidents).
The federation has submitted the charter of demands to the Chancellor of Universities (Governor), the Chief Minister and the Education and Finance Ministers and the concerned departments’ Secretaries, said vice-president Susanta Mohapatra.