As the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus persists with its out-of-bounds order against trade union leader Sucheta De, the latter asked authorities to withdraw the order by May 18, 2022. i.e by the end of the day today.
“That a University of such a repute seeks to issue a punitive order without any legal backing. That this is shocking and I hope that this would be withdrawn immediately. In view of the facts and circumstances above I request you to withdraw the office order,” said All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) President De in her letter addressed to the Chief Proctor.
She specifically decried the May 5 Vice-Chancellor’s order that said De will be declared out-of-bounds of the campus for her “undesirable activities”. De was actively involved in organising the JNU workers’ protest against non-payment of wages on May 6.
The contract workers have not received wages for several months and face threats of retrenchment for raising their demands. On May 4, they began their protest at the office of Dean of Students, of which De was an integral part as a trade union activist. For this, the ex-student of the university was barred from entry by authorities.
“The exercise of the authority by the university is arbitrary and remains unexplained and there are no specific charges against me [De] that have been made out by the university. It is a bald allegations and has no legal bearing,” she said.
The AICCTU too supported her in decrying the order as ‘malafide’ and an attempt to hide the unfair labour practices. Accordingly, the trade union asked the authorities to respond by Thursday.
“I hope to receive a positive response from your good office and I also hope that the issuance of the office order would be considered as a mere misunderstanding,” said De.
Meanwhile, AICCTU Delhi General Secretary Abhishek Kumar informed that none of the JNU workers have received their wages as of Wednesday.
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