M A I N   N E W S

5 cops, 20 students hurt in clash
Tribune Reporters

Jandu Singha (Jalandhar), October 1
Five policemen and 20 agitating District Institute of Elementary Training (DIET) students were injured when policemen resorted to lathi charge to stop them from proceeding towards Jalandhar for participating in a protest at the Jalandhar city bus stand.

DIET students of the state are protesting against the new education policy and the “indifferent” attitude of Punjab Education Minister Khushal Behl towards their demands.

Those who were injured in the clash between students and policemen included Adampur police station SHO Gurmukh Singh, Additional SHO Satnam Singh, Jandu Singha Police Chowki in charge Rajbir Singh, constable Balwinder Singh and a Punjab Home Guards Jawan Ramji Dass.

The trouble started when policemen deployed at a naka at Jandu Singha on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road stopped a few buses carrying DIET students, including girls, and prevented them from proceeding ahead as a precautionary measure. This irked the students who resorted to block the traffic on the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur road. When students refused to call off the sit-in, the police chowki in charge Rajbir Singh, urged the Adampur SHO Gurmukh Singh to visit the spot and defuse the situation. As the dialogue between the SHO and students was in progress, some policemen allegedly used some abusive words against the students. This sparked off the tension as students went berserk and resorted to stone-pelting on the policemen, injuring five cops. The policemen resorted to lathi charge, resulting in injuries to 20 students, including 12 girls. While cops were shifted to the Jalandhar Civil Hospital, injured students were admitted to various hospitals in and around Adampur for first aid. The condition of Kamaljit and Sukhwinder is stated to be serious. Since most of the students were admitted to private hospitals and clinics, their identity could not be established.

Meanwhile, the students reached the Jalandhar Inter-State Bus Terminus between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and did not allow any bus to enter or to go out. DIET students were led by Mr Joginder Singh Jogi, President of the National Youth Clubs Organisation, and Mr Ramesh Kumar, president of the Hoshiarpur unit of agitating DIET students. They alleged that Mr Behl had earlier “accepted” their demands after they had gheraoed him in Amritsar, but “back-tracked” when they met him at Chandigarh forcing them to resort to protests all over the state.

HOSHIARPUR: Over six students including girls of DIET, here, were injured when they were lathi-charged while trying to stage dharna at Jandu Singha-Dosarka on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road on Tuesday, according to a press note issued by Mr Ajib Devedi, Member of the Sangharsh Committee of the DIET Students. He said girl students — Kamaljit and Navjeet — and Sachin and Ranbir were admitted to Civil Hospital, Adampur in a serious condition.

He said 100 DIET students were going in tempos to Jalandhar to join their counterparts in their agitation. However, they were not allowed to proceed to Jalandhar by the police at Hajara village.

BATHINDA: ETT students on Monday staged dharna on canal bridge near thermal plant on outskirts of the city to press the government not to implement the new education policy. Vehicular traffic in the city and to Malout, Muktsar, Ganganagar, Faridkot, Moga, Amritsar, Jalandhar came to a standstill for about three hours. However, ambulances and private vehicles carrying patients and schoolchildren were not stopped.

Students from Faridkot, Muktsar and Bathinda districts had assembled in the city to participate in the dharna.

Earlier, more than 1000 students of different training institutes held a march in the city. The march started from the local sports stadium and concluded near Canal Bridge, where the students sat for a dharna.

GURDASPUR: Several hundred ETT students took part in the dharna held here on Tuesday in the DIET institute. Later, students march in a procession and blocked traffic from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

Mr Major Singh, president of the ETT Students Union, Amritsar district said they would continue to boycott the classes till the new education policy which included two-year internship for newly appointed ETT teachers was withdrawn.

Punjab closes DIETs
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 1
Irritated by the unending agitation by Elementary Education Teachers, the Punjab Government today ordered the indefinite closure of all 17 District Institutes of Education Training (DIETs).

Nearly 6,000 EET course trainees are on the roads protesting against the radical changes in the selection, training and recruitment process of these teachers in the new education policy.

According to Mr K.K. Bhatnagar, Principal Secretary, School Education, the new education policy envisages that the age for recruitment of EET teachers, after selection and training in the DIET, be lowered from 42 years to 32 years qualifying marks at the plus two level be raised from 50 per cent to 55 per cent, weightage be given to those with sports qualifications and mandatory internship for two years with a stipend of Rs 2,500 per month against Rs 8,000 per month. There are 15,000 vacancies of EET at present.

The EET course students are agreeable to these new conditions, except the one which stipulates mandatory internship. The present EET course students are agitating against this provision, including resorting to traffic blockades, gherao of ministers etc, said Mr Bhatnagar.

Education Minister, Khushal Behl has also had several rounds of discussions with EET course students and tried to reason out with them but no avail. Having exhausted his patience and in view of the threat posed to normal life, the minister has ordered the closure of all DIETs in the state.

Mr Behl has deliberated with agitating students, explaining to them how educational standards have deteriorated in the past decade and that the present changes in the education policy were aimed at improving the quality of education. Hence the decision to close indefinitely all 17 DIET.

Admissions of 3,400 ETT students cancelled
Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 1
In an unprecedented move, which could have far-reaching consequences, the state government has cancelled the admissions of 3,400 elementary teacher training (ETT) students in 17 District Institutes of Education Training (DIETs) of the state today.

Official sources said principals of all 17 DIETs today struck off the name of students who were in second and fourth semester today after the instructions were issued by the Director, State Education Research and Training last evening at a meeting held in Chandigarh.

The sources added that while the names of 3,400 students had been struck off from the roll call registers, show cause notices to 1,700 students of the third semester of the ETT course had been issued for their long absence from the classes.

“The names of these 1,700 students will be struck off from the roll call registers if they did not start attending their classes immediately. By October 9, they would complete one month of continuous absence from classes and on October 10, they will be no more students of their respective DIETs if they did not join classes by then,” they said.

At least 6,800 students are pursuing the two-year ETT course. A major section of these students have been resorting to traffic jams, demonstration and dharnas for the past many days to lodge their protest against the new education policy of state government.

Information gathered by TNS revealed that the state government had taken the step to cancel the admissions of 3,400 students to put pressure on the agitating students to withdrawn their agitation, which had been embarrassing the administration.

On the other hand, the authorities concerned claimed that admission of 3,400 students had been cancelled as they had been absent from their classes for a long time. The names of students, who remained absent from their classes for a month continuously, could be struck off as per the norms.

Mr Narinder Mittal, mandal president, BJP, Bathinda, pointed out that the cancellation of admissions of 3,400 students by the state government reflected its frustration as it failed to redress the grievances of agitating students.

He said the decision showed that the state government was trying to pressurise the students to withdraw their strike. He added that the state government should also tell the public about the fact that what would the faculty members of DIETs would do as they had been rendered virtually jobless after the admissions of 3,400 students were cancelled today.