Protests around Gian Sagar Medical College banned

PATIALA: A Rajpura court has restrained holding of any protest within 500m radius of the Gian Sagar Medical College at Banur. The court of civil judge, Gurdev Singh, issued these orders on a petition of Gian Sagar Educational and Charitable Trust, which is making efforts to restart this college that has been closed since 2017.

In its petition, the trust trough its general manager, JK Sharma, said Dharminder Singh, Ram Naryan, Ravinder Singh and 15 other ex-employees, themselves and through their associates, had been staging a dharna at the gate of the hospital, disturbing the peaceful running of the college and hospital that the trust wants to revive.

Most protesters are former employees of the college and have been seeking re-employment and salary arrears. Passing the restraint orders, the judge observed, “It is one of the fundamental rights of a citizen of India to hold peaceful protests for his lawful demands. However, in the same way, a citizen ...has also the right to run any lawful business in a peaceful manner to earn his livelihood. As such, defendants are restrained from holding any protest within 500m radius from the gates of the institute.”

Meanwhile, former employees of the hospital held a protest with Rajpura MLA Hardyal Singh Kamboj joining in. “I will take up the matter with the state government and ensure justice for former employees,” added Kamboj.

Amarjit Jaijee, a spokesperson of the college, said, “We are paying salary dues to former employees. Those with pending salaries can contact the management. Whenever the college and hospital restarts, we will prefer recruiting former employees. However, even the former employees can be given jobs only once the institute is operational again.”