Chandigarh: Nearly 170 private colleges across Punjab and Chandigarh will remain shut on Wednesday following a 'college bandh' call of a teachers' union.

The strike call was given by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) due to the Punjab government's failure to accept its demands including implementation of an already announced pension and gratuity scheme for hundreds of college teachers.

PCCTU president Jagwant Singh said that the strike has been called jointly by the joint action committee of Non-government Colleges Management Federation, Federation of Associations of College Principals, the PCCTU and the Federation of Non-Teaching Employees of Punjab.

Colleges in Punjab and Chandigarh will observe 'college bandh' on Nov 30. He said that the Punjab government's policies had created serious problems for colleges and their employees.

The demands include implementation of pension-gratuity scheme approved by the government earlier on Dec 12, 2001, lifting of the ban on recruitment, implementation of revised pay-scales on the basis of parity with those working in government colleges, and release of pay scales, Jagwant Singh said.

He further stated that hundreds of teachers will hold protest rallies across Punjab and Chandigarh on Wednesday. The private colleges get 95 percent grant-in-aid from the government.

The PCCTU has been observing a two-hour strike in all colleges since early November to press its demands. IANS