Posters at Heramba Chandra College where teachers and other employees have been on an “indefinite ceasework” since Monday. (Pradip Sanyal)

Academic and administrative activities at Heramba Chandra College have come to a standstill as the teachers and other employees have been on an “indefinite ceasework” since Monday to press for immediate payment of their salary dues.

A few hundred students of the state-aided college in Gol Park, run by Brahmo Samaj Education Society, sat in classrooms throughout the day waiting for their teachers to turn up. But all 55 teachers were busy shouting slogans outside, demanding their dues.

As the government has not been releasing funds to the college since April, the employees have been paid only a part of their salaries — 50 to 70 per cent — for April, May and June. They were not paid anything for July.

“We received our last full salary for March. Just imagine our plight,” said Bhaskar Purkayastha, the secretary of the teachers’ council of the college.

Around Rs 20 lakh is needed every month to pay the full salaries of the 55 teachers and 40 non-teaching employees.

“We’ve paid partial salaries for three months from the college fund. But now there’s a crunch and we can’t pay anything till the government disburses the grant,” said principal Khagen Adhikary.

An official in the higher education department said the grant could not be released because of a legal dispute between the governing body and the principal over the selection of a new principal.

“The college informed us last week that the dispute had been settled and it had allowed Adhikary to continue as principal. We’ll release the grant as soon as the college submits all documents to substantiate the claim that the dispute had been settled,” the official added.

Students are the worst sufferers. “Registration of first-year students was to start today. But we learnt on entering the college that all academic and administrative activities had stopped because of the ceasework,” said a first-year BCom student.

“In most colleges, the first-year session started in July. Here, it started only in August. Till today, we had only two days’ of classes,” said another fresher.

“We feel for the students but we are helpless,” said Purkayastha.