The Besu campus. A Telegraph picture

Two factions of a Citu supported union of non-teaching employees of Besu are on a collision course even as classes remain suspended over clashes between students.

The bone of contention is a state government offer allowing 184 non-teaching employees to opt for a higher pay scale.

The state government’s order was placed before the university’s board of management on Thursday. The board referred it back to the state higher education department.

This prompted the group of 184 to threaten to launch an “intense movement” from Friday.

The employees believe that the 265 other non-teaching staff members — who are being paid according to the higher scale — were instrumental in the offer being turned down.

“A large number of our union members are against the government allowing us to upgrade to a higher salary scale. The board rejected the offer at the instance of these members. But we are not going to accept the decision. We will launch an agitation,” said an employee.

The nearly 450 non-teaching employees of Besu are paid according to two scales. The 184 are state government employees and earn less than the 265, who are university employees.

“Those being paid at the university scale fear that others switching to the same scale will hamper their promotion prospects,” said a representative of the 184 employees.

An employee belonging to the other group said they had opposed the offer since it would “complicate the upgrade process”.

According to sources, the state government wants to introduce a uniform scale for the 450 employees to make the process of Besu’s upgrade to an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) easier.

The Union human resource development ministry had reportedly asked the state government to follow the university scale for all employees for the university to be upgraded to an IIEST. Senior officials of the university refused comment on the issue.