Shillong, June 20: All NEHU Workers Union on Monday met the governor Satya Pal Malik, who is the chief rector of the NEHU, seeking regularisation of causual workers.
Advocate Napoleon S Mawphniang led the delegation.
The union expressed dissatisfaction over the stand of NEHU, Shillong and Tura campuses, due to the inhuman treatment meted out to its casual workers.
The union said the administration has discriminated its members, including the president Napoleon, an advocate by profession, who, besides being its leader, is also the legal representative and who has been the only one to fight for their rights and for the welfare of all casual workers in NEHU.
“As casual workers in University, we have been treated like slaves and untouchables by the administration in campus, and to make things worse, the administration had the audacity to make false promises towards its demands for regularisation”, the union said.
The casual workers are still being paid the minimum wages with no basic remuneration and without maternity leave.
The union apprised the governor that the university never recruited any posts of non-teaching staff till date, thus all the burdens are on the existing casual workers; while at the moment, there are 621 vacant posts for non-teaching staff.
“The university establishment has been exploiting these casual workers day and night, and if they are not conferred the status of regularised workers soon, it would be a human rights violation against their rights to regularisation as casual workers, permissible as per the laws of our land”, the union said.
The union has gathered evidence regarding the exploitation and suppression of casual workers by the administration in the campuses of the University at Shillong and Tura.
The union also pointed out that the NEHU authorities had threatened the agitating staff with termination of services.
The union told the governor that it is not happy with the stance taken by the administration as it was based on the request of the administration that they had suspended the silent protests and hunger strike for fifteen days as long as the negotiation period was going on.
“But, if the negotiation is one sided and if it brings no positive outcome towards the demand of the rights of casual workers, the union will resume the silent protests and hunger strike again, from July 1”, the union said.
The union said there are many discrepancies within NEHU Shillong the members of the union have been witness to; that will damage the university’s reputation.
The union also cited cases of certain handful of casual workers being regularised within a year of employment.
