New Delhi, Sep 24 - Around 2,000 teachers of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) went on a hunger strike Thursday even as they took classes, attended seminars and toiled in labs after the government rejected their demand for better salaries.

'Our protest is a huge success. It is one of its kind,' M. Thenmozi, head of the IIT faculty federation, told IANS.

'We took classes, attended seminars and worked in laboratories as we do regularly but all on empty stomach,' she said adding that they are 'disappointed' by the government 'apathy'.

Holding placards with 'Save IITs' written on them, many professors held a sit-in at the IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay but only 'after attending their classes'. At the IIT Madras, faculties held a seminar on the IIT Vision 2030.

'There were talks, panel discussions and many more debates about the future of the IIT system,' Thenmozi, a professor at IIT Madras, told IANS over telephone.

She said around 2,000 faculty members joined the protest at 14 IITs across the country.

The federation Tuesday submitted a fresh memorandum to the human resource development (HRD) ministry but has not received any reply. 'Nothing so far,' said M. Balakrishnan, a senior faculty member at IIT Delhi.

'We stayed hungry for a day. It's OK. It's a protest about some valid demands. We took classes and worked like a normal day but sat in the protest while not taking any classes,' Balakrishnan told IANS.