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News Desk: Leaving the ruling BJP embarrassed, BJP MLC Ayanur Manjunath protested against the state government for its apathy towards guest lecturers.
Holding the ruling party and the Opposition leaders captive to the peculiar moment, Manjunath jumped to the Well of the House in protest against the state government. While demanding the government to immediately release salaries of the guest lecturers, Manjunath spoke about how the pandemic had pushed some lecturers to die by suicide, unable to bear the financial stress.
“Guest lecturers haven’t received salaries from March. In response to a question raised by other MLCs, the government has stated that the lecturers were employed for a period of 10 months in the academic year and hence their salaries were stopped after March. However, until now, no university has told them about the last day of work and hence they are technically still employed with their institutions. The Centre has also said these lecturers should be considered on-duty during the pandemic. The colleges have used them for all exam work, online classes and evaluation work during this period, too,” he said.
Moreover, there is a government order that no employee should be removed from work during the pandemic, he added.
Opposition leaders immediately extended support to the MLC and joined him in the Well, demanding justice for the guest lecturers. When the MLCs did not budge, the session was adjourned.
The protest ended only when Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa arrived in the Council and personally assured to release the lecturers’ salaries at the earliest.
“The issue has been brought to my notice. The Central government has directed to consider these lecturers as on-duty during the pandemic. I will ensure that they get their salaries,” he said.
