Employees gherao Visva Bharati V-C for pay hike

Employees of library and publication centre of Visva-Bharati Universitys Kolkata centre gheraoed Vice-Chancellor Rajat Kant Roy and Registrar M M Roy on Friday.

Over 100 people,both present and former employees of the library,took part in the protest demanding the pay structure which the employees of the universitys Santiniketan and Sriniketan branches enjoy.

The employees said for the last four months they have been trying to put their case forward but the authorities are not paying heed to their demand and instead urged them to wait.

Initially we wrote to the university,we then pleaded before them. The authorities have not paid any heed to our genuine demands. As a result we were forced to take this step, said Rama Prasad De,vice-president of the employees union at Kolkata.

The employees said that salaries of employees at Santiniketan and Sriniketan were hiked in December 2008 as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

This centre generates most of the revenue for the university through publication of books and also for other institutions like the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, De added.

The employees,armed with placards and posters,continued their demonstration till late in the evening. Intermittently,they held talks with the authorities but the deadlock remained.

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When contacted,the university authorities denied the incident and said they there was no agitation and they were not gheraoed.

We have not been gheraoed,I am in Kolkata. The vice-chancellor is also with me, said the registrar of the university.

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