"Sharam Karo": Housekeeping Workers’ Protest Enters Third Day, No Communication From Administration and Contractors
- Ananya Pendharkar & Nysa Sanghvi
- Aug 31
- 4 min read
The housekeeping staff workers’ protest completed its 3rd day on the 30th of August, 2025, with over seventy workers present at the site, sticking to their 3 demands.
The day began with workers responding to the show-cause notice given to them on Thursday, 28th August, with a deadline of 6:00 PM on the 30th. The notice demanded the suspension of the protest due to a lack of cause. At the advice of Advocate Kapil Balyan, a response asserting that their peaceful protest was conducted “in accordance with [our] democratic and constitutional right” was drafted. It also emphasized the workers’ current substandard working conditions and reiterated their demands.
The HR department of Bluspring Enterprises, however, rejected the collective submission, insisting on individual replies. Adv. Balyan clarified that the workers’ reply to the show-cause notice has legal standing even if HR refuses to accept it. “If someone denies receiving a notice, it is still considered legally served,” he said. He also added that notices could also be served through registered post, email, or by affixing them to the company’s office.
The housekeeping staff on strike were served show-cause notices over Whatsapp, where associates of Bluspring Enterprises tried to convince the workers to raise their grievances individually. The workers, in response, individually sent the collectively drafted reply. To prevent disciplinary action against the workers, concerned students, faculty members, and workers went to the Deputy Commissioner, Sonipat Police and tried to submit a copy of the drafted reply, certifying their right to peacefully protest. A physical copy was also affixed to the company’s office with video evidence of the action.
Meanwhile, approximately 50 workers still working inside the university were pressured by the administration to prevent them from joining the protest, alleged an AUSG councilor. They stated, “We have no clarity on the intimidation tactics being used by the administration, but we do have video evidence of workers being escorted off the highway by cars by the administration and brought into campus through Gate 3.”
Insha Husain (UG ’26) elaborated on the administration’s efforts to compensate for the loss of labour, stating, “We witnessed 3 female workers at gate 2 that were hired through another private contractor. They were not dressed in uniform and had worked yesterday and were planning to work today. They had not been paid for their labour. After we informed them that there was no guarantee of payment and of our protest, they left campus. The administration is using multiple pressure tactics to compensate for labour without fair pay."
Both Husain and Razeen Ayesh (UG ‘26) informed the gathered crowd about another incident that had taken place earlier during the day, which involved Bluspring associates filming female students without their consent. Students who had remained inside the campus the previous night also made similar claims, and further alleged that the associates made inappropriate remarks, asking them to meet alone in their office on being questioned.
Ayesh mentioned incidents of female housekeeping staff being harassed, and raised the question, “If this is how they behave with us, can you imagine how they behave with our didis?” She continued, “All formal mechanisms have collapsed. None of them have been accessible to workers. That is why we are sitting here, supporting them, because no one inside is willing to listen.”
These associates had also agreed to meet the workers and students regarding their demands at 3 PM, but never showed up.
Several worker testimonies, given in the evening, continued to highlight the pattern of arbitrary dismissals, while others spoke about their abysmal working conditions. Om,* who suffers from a spinal condition, said that he was still being forced to lift heavy loads outside his role as a sweeper.
Workers also described the financial pressures faced by them. One said, “I’ve been here 11 years, but they cut ₹200–₹300 from my salary for small reasons. We have been asking for a raise for years, but they never take it seriously.” Another added, “I earn ₹12,000–13,000. We asked for our demands to be heard, but the manager never listened. The students did.”
Following the worker testimonies, alumnus Gowri Kolal (UG ‘22) spoke out about the consistent ill-treatment towards workers. “All these allegations of harassment, lack of fair pay, verbal abuse that are being brought up now had also been brought up then [in their time at the university]”, they said. They also emphasized the job insecurity manufactured by the administration through third-party contracting that runs on a fire-and-hire model. They added that the people of Asawarpur had been promised development in the name of job creation in exchange of their land. However, the jobs created are contractual and insecure in nature. They urged students to draw a connection between land relations, accessibility of education and the idea of “development”.
They said, “People that live in Haryana know that the land Ashoka is built on has been seized from farmers and at that time, they had been promised new employment opportunities and development. This problem isn't limited to Ashoka, private universities have proliferated in Haryana on land that originally belonged to farmers. The Haryana government is practically handing out farmers' land to universities at a low price. Where are the jobs and wages the farmers were promised? Children from surrounding areas never have access to education here. They call this progress but who is this progress for? As of the writing of this piece, protesting staff and students standing with them in solidarity, continued to stay outside Gate 1, marking the third night spent in protest. *Pseudonyms have been provided to these individuals to preserve their anonymity. [Edited by: Sahana Radhakrishan & Tanush Guha]
Absolutely incredible coverage