PUTA elections on August 21

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 22

The elections for the Panjab University Teachers’ Association (PUTA) for one-year term are slated for August 21. The last day of filing the nominations would be August 9.

In its status report, PUTA listed its achievements, under the chairmanship of outgoing PUTA president Rajesh Gill. It shared an account of how it prevented anti-teacher policies, including mandatory filing of property returns, arbitrary appointments of hostel wardens and out-of-turn house allotments. It also stated how PUTA ran an aggressive campaign for the 7th pay commission and the revision of child care leave. Citing the reformative measures undertaken for CAS promotions, PUTA said it has introduced a new teachers’ welfare scheme and amended the constitution. The teachers’ body claimed that it organised state-level rally for the implementation of the 7th pay commission and increments in grants for PhD scholars.

The association claimed that it has also worked on restoring the dignity of teachers, giving the recent example of standing up for Prof Preeti Mahajan, who had tendered her resignation citing rude behaviour of the Vice-Chancellor. The association, however, recently ran into a controversy on hike in subscription fee from Rs 200 to Rs 500.