It’s protest time in Punjab

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 29

Members of the TET Pass Unemployed BED Teachers’ Union spent a night underneath a water tank near gate number 6 of the local bus stand on Thursday night.

The overnight protest marked the start of their pakka morcha following a day of protest outside the Education Minister’s residence on Thursday afternoon. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Mid-Day Meal Non-Teaching Employees’ Union on Friday declared that they would be holding a pakka morcha in Jalandhar post Diwali.

With around three months left for the Assembly elections, various unions have intensified their protest calls and have threatened to take out morchas right after Diwali in the state.

With a huge workforce of the state belonging to the Education Department, Education Minister Pargat Singh’s residence has turned into a hub of agitations as the state nears the elections.

The unemployed teachers said they would continue with their agitation in the coming days and a call would also be taken regarding Diwali. The members of the union also began a hunger strike today. Several members of the union had to be hospitalised on Thursday after some women teachers collapsed following lathi charge.

SSA/Mid-Day meal staff

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Mid-Day Meal Non-Teaching Employees’ Union declared that they would hold a protest outside Education Minister Pargat Singh’s home on October 31. They also threatened to hold a pakka morcha after Diwali if their demands remained unmet.

Talking to The Tribune, union leader Shobhit Bhagat said, “Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has repeatedly said that all contractual employees will be regularised, but like four years of the Capt government, Channi too is issuing only statements. The leaders said there is much angst among non-teaching unregularised employees. In 2018, the then education department had regularised the services of 8,886 teachers of the SSA (into the education department), but office employees working with them were not regularised.

Unemployed TET teachers

Five members of the Unemployed TET Pass Teachers began their hunger strike. Those on strike included Sandeep Kaur, Binderpal Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Sajan Fazilka and Vipan Kamboj. Today was also the second day of the protest from Munish Kumar and Jaswant Ghubaya, two teachers who started a protest atop a tank on Thursday.

Notably, Munish held a protest for over three months atop a tank in Sangrur. Meanwhile, a delegation of teachers who refused to end their agitation despite repeated requests from the administration, met Education Minister Pargat Singh who sought time for a week to resolve their demands.

NHM employees

NHM employees of the Health Department also started a hunger strike on Thursday onwards. Inderjit Singh Rana, state president of the National Health Mission, said, “We have started a hunger strike in Kharar on Thursday, demanding the regularisation of their services and better pay scales. We will continue our agitation until demands are met. Various districts will join the agitation turn by turn to press for fulfilment of their demands.