Day 22 of protest: GNDU teachers hold maha rally, over 8 lakh students hit

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 21

Teachers from Guru Nanak Dev University and affiliated colleges today took to road as they took out a rally against the state government. The long-pending demand of implementation of the 7th Pay Commission wages and rollback of delinking from UGC is yet to be determined by the government and the teachers have been on strike for the past three weeks. Today, the members of Guru Nanak Dev University Teachers’ Association (GNDUTA), along with the district unit of Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU), marched from GNDU main gate to Putlighar.

All nine colleges of the district participated in the rally and raised the ant- government slogans. More than 500 teachers were the part of this ‘maha rally’. The protest began on September 5 this year in a scattered manner.

“The teachers were hoping that the government would listen to their demands, and that it wouldn’t go this far. It has been three months, and the government hasn’t taken any action yet. So, we launched a total education bandh from 1 December. This is the 22nd day of our protest. Despite all our efforts, the state government hasn’t given us any positive outcome. Every state invests in higher education for its prosperity, but we are seeing the opposite of that happening in Punjab,” said Dr G S Sekhon, District president, PFUCTO.

The state-wide protests are being organised under the banner of the Punjab Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (PFUCTO). The protest has affected the education of more than 8 lakh students. Sekhon said the Punjab Government assured the members of the organisation that teacher’s concerns would be raised in the Cabinet meeting scheduled in the months of December. “But nothing has happened for the teachers so far. In fact, the demands of the teachers were not a part of the agenda of the Cabinet meeting that was held a few days ago.”