Tribhuvan University (TU) has formed a three-member panel to study the demands put forth by the agitating staff unions of the university.

The committee led by Shree Krishna Shrestha is mandated to recommend possible solutions to the standoff within a week after studying the unions' 11-point demand. TU central office has been padlocked for last 20 days and it has badly affected administrative work in the country's oldest university. The unions' demands include dress allowance on a par with civil servants and staff promotion through internal competitions, among others.

TU Vice-chancellor Hira Bahadur Maharjan said the committee was formed with consent from the protesters. “We will work as per the recommendations made by the taskforce to resolve the row,” said Maharjan. However, the protesters have not yet opened the padlock. Maharjan said the panel has been asked to find solutions that cause minimum financial burden to the university.

The protesters submitted a memorandum to the education minister and the prime minister on February 2 and 6 respectively. They have also threatened to disrupt the academic activities in all the TU constituent colleges indefinitely if their demands go unheeded.

source: The Kathmandu Post, 8 Feb 2012