Para-teachers hospitalised after police lathicharge
RANCHI: The police on Monday lathi-charged protesting parateachers outside the Raj Bhawan in Ranchi, leaving five of them injured.
Around 1,500 ad hoc teachers from different parts of the state assembled in groups outside the governor house and BJP headquarters on Monday demanding regularisation of services. The protesting teachers also threatened of self-immolation.
“They had broken the barricade, so we had to use minor force to control them. A few protestors were injured in the process,” said Ranchi superintendent of police Kishore Kaushal.
The injured teachers were rushed to the Ranchi Sadar Hospital while several protesting teachers were detained in order to prevent any disturbance in the city, the police said.
Naresh Kumar Mahato of Bokaro broke his left leg while Bajrang Prasad of Ranchi suffered a hairline fracture on his leg, the para-teachers informed.
Mohan Kumar Mandal, one of the protesters, said one Manoj Yadav of Ranchi suffered serious head injuries while Mahesh Thakur of Palamu suffered internal injuries in his head and fell unconscious. Sources from Sadar Hospital said three of the teachers were severely injured.
“This kind of treatment is disrespectul to the teaching fraternity. We have devoted so many years of our life educating children and this is what the government has given to us in return,” said Mandal, who has been working as a para-teacher for the past ten years.
There are 70,000 para-teachers in Jharkhand who were appointed on honorarium basis in 2002 as Siksha Mitras (teaching friends) under the Centre’s Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. These ad hoc teachers have staged major protests and gone on strikes several times in the past demanding regularisation of services. While the government has recruited 20,000 regular teachers for government schools in the past one year, it has ignored the demands of parateachers, they alleged.
The teachers are now planning major protests outside all the state ministers’ residences.
“Violence cannot be a solution to a problem affecting 70,000 people. The government has turned a blind eye to our long-pending demand and is recruiting fresh teachers while the experienced ones like us are fighting for basic facilities,” said Sanjay Dubey, another para-teacher.
Narendra Manjhi, who received minor injuries on his hands, alleged that the police turned violent even though the teachers stayed well within the barricade.