In support of their long pending demands regarding the promotion policy and salary revision, the non-teaching staff of Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) will go on a 24-hour strike on Thursday.

The members of IIT-K Karamchari Sangathan claimed that the non-teaching staff of six other IITs — Mumbai, Delhi, Roorkee, Chennai, Kharagpur, and Guwahati — will also boycott work on Thursday. There are around 12,000 non-teaching employees in the seven IITs — among them, around 1,000 are from IIT-Kanpur.

The general secretary of IIT-K Karamchari Sangathan, Kaushal Kishore, said: “The decision on our promotion policy has been pending since 1998. Though over 20 committees have been constituted to review it, no decision has been taken as yet.”

He added that in the last six month, four committees had been constituted to look into the issues. “The Sixth Pay Commission recommends assessment of our promotion after every 10 years but we are still following old norms that call for promotion assessment after 12 years,” Kishore said.

“We have also asked for a better salary package for the Group D employees. The non-teaching employees are united in their protest, and after waiting for a long period, an unanimous decision has been taken to hold a strike,” he added.

Another member of the Karamchari Sangathan claimed the IIT Council has the requisite power to take decisions in regard to their demands. “We were confident that the IIT Council will take a decision in its meeting on October 19, but our problems are still unattended,” he added.