Non academic strike hampers university activities

COLOMBO (News 1st) -  Operations including academic activities of several universities have been interrupted as a result of the token strike being carried out by university non-academic staff. The co-chairperson of the committee Dhammika Priyantha stated that they have 11 demands including, resolution of salary anomalies, the increase of the Monthly Compensatory Allowance (MCA), implementation of an open examination when recruiting employees for universities, updates of the loan scales. He added that if authorities pretend not to see the issues they have faced and their demands are not met, they will take steps to continue strike action. Non-academic staff members of the Universities of Ruhuna and Rajarata refrained from carrying out their duties hampering the academic activities. However, the academic activities at the University of Colombo ran smoothly as the administration of the university stated that 90% of the non-academic staff reported to work today(July 30). When News 1st inquired Chairperson of the University Grants Commission Professor Mohan de Silva noted that they have already notified the Finance Ministry regarding the issue.