Coimbatore: Two guest lecturers and five non-teaching staffers working at the Erode Postgraduate Extension Centre of Bharathiar University have not been paid salaries for the past four months, affecting their livelihoods. The staffers, who rely on modest monthly wages, have said the continued delay has caused financial distress and disrupted household expenses.Association of University Teachers (AUT) Zone 4 chairman A Balasankar said the seven staffers last received their salary on May 21. After that, they had not been paid, he said.Balasankar said that earlier a five-day break in service was given once in six months, which has now been changed to once in three months. According to the AUT, the term ended on May 22. Ater the five-day break ended on May 29, work orders for rejoining duty have not been issued, resulting in non-payment of wages from June to September.The AUT said the five non-teaching staff members include a sweeper drawing Rs 12,500 and others receiving between Rs 15,500 and Rs 17,000. It said a clerk’s child was unwell, and the association had to step in for medical expenses. The AUT alleged that even for low-paid staffers, the university administration had been delaying payments, causing severe financial hardship.Balasankar said staff members were forced to petition the vice-chancellor-in-charge committee every month and still received salaries only after delays. He demanded action against those responsible for the delay.The affected staffers submitted a complaint to the BU registrar seeking disbursal of four months’ salary, implementation of the revised pay fixed from Dec 21, 2022, issuance of break-in-service orders, and deduction and coverage under Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) and Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) for staffers at the Erode extension centre.
