FUUAST campuses remain shut due to non-teaching staff's protests

Protesters demand permanent VC, promotions

OUR CORRESPONDENT: The non-teaching staff at the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) staged on Friday protests against the varsity's ad hoc management.

According to a statement issued by the Fuuast Non-Teaching Staffers Association, some officeholders of the association went to the vice-chancellor's (VC) office to discuss various problems being faced by the varsity's non-teaching staff, however, they were not allowed to meet the VC.

Due to the apathy of the VC's office towards non-teaching staff, the association organised protests at both the Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Abdul Haq campuses.

Fuuast Non-Teaching Staffers Association President Akbar Khan claimed that Fuuast Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Syed Altaf Hussain visited the Abdul Haq campus only two times in the last six months. "The VC has completely ignored the issues of the non-teaching staffers," he said.



Khan recalled that Fuuast had formed a promotion committee in 2007 for lower cadre employees. He lamented that the acting VC was focusing only on getting the teaching staff promoted.

The association president also decried that the VC had recently appointed drivers and security guards on BPS-9, whereas, many non-teaching staff members working in the varsity for the past 15 years were still in BPS-3 and BPS-4. Khan called it blatant discrimination.

Both the Fuuast campuses remained closed due to the protests where the protesters chanted the slogan, "Go VC go."

"We were not allowed to see the VC," a protester, requesting anonymity said, adding that they waited for several hours. "This is humiliating for staff members," he said.

The protesters also demanded a permanent VC for the university. "The incumbent VC frequently travels to the Islamabad campus but never pays any attention to those in Karachi," said another protester.