Patna, July 16: The indefinite strike by non-teaching staff of 11 universities and 250 constituent colleges of Bihar ended today with the state government conceding a majority of their demands. The strike, which entered the 16th day, was called off by Bihar University and College Employees Federation (BUCEF) after talks between a nine-member BUCEF delegation and state higher education minister Ram Lakhan Ram Raman, federation general secretary Ganga Prasad Jha told.
"Since the government agreed to our majority of demands, we have decided to call off our agitation and the employees will resume their duty from tomorrow," Jha said.
Jha said the minister told the meeting that the government agreed to provide central pay scales to the employees with effect from January one, 1996. The proposal has been okayed by economic affairs committee of state cabinet and after a nod from chief minister Rabri Devi it will go to cabinet for approval, Jha said.
He said the government interlocutors assured them of sympathetic consideration to their other demands including increasing the duration of earned leave encashment from existing 120 to 240 days and giving representation to non-teaching staff in university senates and syndicates.
Altogether 33,000 employees of 11 universities and 250 constituent colleges across the state went on indefinite strike from July one hampering academic and administrative work forcing authorities to postpone examinations and admission work.
Besides the representatives of BUCEF and the minister, the meeting was attended by four members of legislative council- Arun Kumar (Congress), Kedar Pandey (CPI), Basudeo Singh (CPI-M) and Ajay Kumar Singh (Congress). Bureau Report