New Delhi: The professors of Maharaja Agrasen College, affiliated with the Delhi University, on Friday polished shoes on the footpath as a protest against the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government after not receiving their salaries for the last four months.
A large number of students also participated in the shoe-polishing demonstration in solidarity with their teachers.
The staff of Maharaja Agrasen college has been facing the problem of not receiving their salaries regularly and alleged that the ad hoc teachers of the college had not yet received the arrears for the Seventh Pay Commission.
For the past three years, teachers had not received reimbursement for medical bills, payment of LTC facility, and child education allowance.
Notably, 12 colleges affiliated with DU are fully funded by the Delhi government and have been facing financial issue.
The professors said that there have been cases of shortfall and delay in receiving grants in these colleges in the last three years.
Professor PK Sharma said that the teachers and employees of Maharaja Agrasen College have not received their salaries since four months which has led to them facing financial problems, including inability to pay their children's school fees and the loan EMIs.
Many staff and teachers faced the tragedy of family members falling ill during the pandemic and many cases of the staff seeking loans to perform the last rites of their deceased family members also came to light.
The professors of Maharaja Agrasen College faced the issue of not receiving their salaries during the pandemic too.
The teachers then took up the issue of irregular salaries with the principal of the college, the governing body of the college, the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), the vice-chancellor of Delhi University, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the Delhi government but to no avail as no permanent solution has been found so far.
In this situation, the teachers have now decided to agitate in new and innovative ways to ensure that the government takes concrete steps in the matter.
The teachers have demanded regular salaries every month. In the demonstration, the professors polished the footwear of the people and their students on the road outside the college and mobilised support.
