Mumbai: If lectures can be held online, so can the protest

If lectures can be held online so can the agitation Amid the COVID19related restrictions professors of Smt Indira Gandhi College of Engineering SIGCE Ghansoli have taken the help of technology to protest against the nonpayment of full salary for 19 monthsProfessors hold discussions during their online protestTheir salaries were slashed much before the pandemic due to financial crunch but the situation worsened following the COVID19 lockdown Professors complained that the college has completed the admissions and charged full fees from students but is still not paying their full salaries The management however claimed that it is strugglingOn January 23 midday had reported about the plight of Maharashtras engineering college professors who had to take up odd jobs to make their ends meet Protest by the Ghansoli college professors shows the struggle continues They decided to hold an online protest after being denied permission to gather on the campusldquoThroughout the year teachers were called to college and asked to take up both academic and nonacademic work even though the classes were being held online But when we wanted to raise our issues we were asked to remain home due to the pandemicrdquo said professor Govind WaghmareSo we decided to raise our voice online he said We gather for an hour every day and to ensure our grievances are heard we send the links of our discussion to government officials regulatory bodies college representatives and the education minister Waghmare added Professors said even the date of payment is not fixed On their complaints earlier the Directorate of Technical Education formed a committee to enquire into this in March he said The report is yet to comeDr H S Dhanawade another professor said ldquoWe waited patiently for a long time for the management to resolve the issue Now even admissions are complete with a significant enrollment and there was not even a relaxation of fees So why the trouble with our paymentsrdquo Protesting professors said that not everyone is part of their agitation as those with huge salary packages are not troubled with pay cuts or delays ldquoWe raised the issue with the Mumbai University which ignored it after merely sending a letter to the college to address their issuerdquo said Vaibhav Narawade president of Mumbai University College Teachers AssociationCollege Principal Dr Sunil Chavan said ldquoProfessors have been paid salaries every month though may not be full But the management is working to resolve this Admissions were delayed and some government grants are also pending especially the fee reimbursements We are talking to the professors and hope to reach a resolution soonrdquo19 No of months for which they havenrsquot been paid full salary