Maharashtra: State gives in to demands by University non-teaching staff, protest yet to be called off

Mumbai: Maharashtra government has agreed to fulfil the demands of college and university non-teaching staff, who have been boycotting exam-related work for more than a week. 

The Higher and Technical Education minister, Chandrakant Patil,  in a post on Twitter, said that the government has taken a 'positive' decision about assured promotion of staffers, while agreeing to give salary arrears and filling vacant posts at universities and colleges. However, the non-teaching staff said that it would still go ahead with its 'token' strike on Thursday, as they are yet to receive the minutes of the meeting where the decisions were made.

The staffers are protesting to press their long-pending demands about salary benefits and recruitment. The protest resulted in the University of Mumbai (MU) and Shivaji University Kolhapur withholding their exams for a couple of days. It has also affected the ongoing practical exams at junior colleges, as teachers have also joined the agitation.

The representatives of non-teaching staff on Wednesday met with the deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. "We had a positive discussion and Fadnavis gave necessary instructions to the finance and higher and technical education departments... However, until we get the minutes of the meeting we will continue our protest according to the pre-decided schedule," said a statement from the staff.

As part of their token strike, the staffers across the universities and colleges will abstain from any work throughout the day on Thursday.