Force used on teachers marching towards Punjab minister’s house
Teachers are demanding the regularisation of their services without pay cut
AMRITSAR :Police used water cannons mild force against the protesting teachers of Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha, Punjab, to quell their march to the residence of education minister OP Soni here on Sunday.
The teachers are protesting against the state government’s refusal to regularise their jobs without a pay cut.
Teachers from Majha and Doaba regions converged at Ranjit Avenue and started their march to the residence of Soni, raising slogans against the government. They even blocked the road at several spots to disrupt the vehicular traffic.
The teachers are against the state government’s decision to fix their monthly salary at ₹15,000 during the three-year probation period. At present, contractual teachers are getting ₹42,300 per month.
The Punjab cabinet had also given its go ahead to the regularisation of the services of 8,886 teachers recruited under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), as well as those teaching in Adarsh and Model schools.
A protesting teacher, Gurdeep Singh, said: “The Punjab government is exploiting us. The salary fixed by the government is not enough to meet our needs. Despite over a month’s protest in Patiala, the government is not ready to listen to us.”
Co-convener of the morcha, Balkar Valtoha, said, “Several teachers were injured in the clash with cops. The education minister has failed to help the teachers and we will intensify our protest until our demands are met.”
He said a meeting between morcha office-bearers and education minister has been fixed for November 22 in Chandigarh and “we hope that the teachers will get their due”.
A MEETING BETWEEN TEACHERS AND EDUCATION MINISTER OP SONI HAS BEEN FIXED FOR NOVEMBER 22 IN CHANDIGARH