MYSORE: The striking temporary employees of the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) decided to abide by the order of Governor and Chancellor of the university T.N. Chaturvedi and vacated the university building on their own on Monday. They said they would meet Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy again and apprise him on the developments that followed the Governor's letter.

Despite learning about the Governor's letter from media reports, the employees went to the university anticipating a written communication from registrar Sundar, who was reportedly directed by the Governor to "evict" the employees from the university premises describing their presence as "unauthorised".

The registrar called the employees' association leaders for a meeting and gave a written order, along with a copy of the Governor's letter, asking them to vacate the premises and henceforth not to come inside the building. "If the order is flouted, it will be deemed as a violation and action will be taken," he is said to have told the leaders.

With the registrar's fiat, the employees vacated the premises and decided to continue to hold a peaceful dharna outside the university building.

Employees' Association secretary Ravindra said the employees would meet the Chief Minister in a couple of days, if possible in Kollegal or Hanur, where he would launch development projects on Tuesday, and request him to work out an immediate solution, following the Governor's direction.

They alleged that the Vice-Chancellor had halted recruitment of teaching staff and instead was going ahead with the recruitment of non-teaching employees to settle scores with the striking employees by denying them an opportunity to work in the university.

"We are waiting for justice since 20 months. We will continue to wait, in a peaceful manner, as we believe the assurances of the chief minister and hope to get justice," they said.

Meanwhile, the police had deployed a force in the campus as a precautionary measure. There were security arrangements in place on Monday, as the Vice-Chancellor was to resume work after leave.

In fact, the Governor's letter had asked the registrar to seek police protection, if necessary, while evicting the temporary employees from the premises.

However, there was no need for this as the employees vacated the premises on their own.

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