Protesting profs marching towards CM’s Sangrur house clash with cops
A scuffle broke out between hundreds of protesting guest faculty assistant professors and the police on the Sangrur-Patiala highway near the residence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in the afternoon here today.
The scuffle continued for about 10 minutes as despite repeated requests by the agitating assistant professors, the district administration failed to provide them the time and date for a meeting with the Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, Secretary (Higher Education), and the DPI (Colleges).
The scuffle started when the protesters tried to go march towards the residence of the Chief Minister after crossing barricades. However, the police pushed them back. The protesters kept shouting slogans against the state government and the Education Minister.
Later, a senior police officer reached the spot and talked to the agitating assistant professors. The protesters ended their protest and dharna when the district administration gave them in writing about a panel meeting with the Education Minister and other high rank officers on October 25 in Chandigarh.
Earlier in the morning, hundreds of assistant professors from various districts of the state gathered near the Verka Milk Plant on the Sangrur-Patiala road. They marched towards the residence of the Chief Minister, raising slogans and holding placards carrying their demands. After the protesters were stopped by the police, they sat on the road, where they were addressed by their leaders.
Later, they also formed a ‘human chain’ by holding hands of each other to “save their jobs” as hundreds of regular assistant professors have already joined their posts in government colleges in the state. These assistant professors have been working as guest faculty in the government colleges since 2002. The total number of guest faculty assistant professors is about 850.
Dr Gulshandeep Kaur Dania, an assistant professor at Government Ranbir College, Sangrur, said the guest faculty assistant professors were a worried lot these days as they feared that they would lose their jobs in case state government did not chalk out a policy for them soon.
She said the Education Department had been filling the posts in the colleges, manned by the guest faculty assistant professors by declaring the same as vacant. She urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to draw up a policy as early as possible to protect the future of the guest faculty assistant professors.
