Teachers protest outside Punjab CM’s farmhouse in Siswan, arrested

Mohali, June 28

More than 100 members of the Elementary Teacher Training-Teacher Eligibility Test (ETT-TET) Qualified Unemployed Teachers Union today laid siege to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s farmhouse in Siswan in Mohali over their long-pending demands.

Wearing black ribbons, the protestors, who came in two buses, raised slogans against the state government. When they tried to enter the farm house, they were arrested by the police and taken to Mullanpur and Gharuan police stations.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Satinder Singh, along with the Superintendent of Police and the area DSP, rushed to the spot. Satinder Singh warned the protesting teachers against disturbing the law and order situation but when teachers refused to budge, they were arrested by the police and taken to two police stations.

The protestors alleged that while arresting them, the police dragged some of the members and some of them even suffered minor injuries.

The ETT and TET Pass Teachers Union president Deepak Kamboj said their demands were ignored by the state government despite their prolonged protest. He said two months have passed since two members of the union had climbed atop a BSNL tower behind the post office in the city and were carrying on the protest. He said the two were facing many challenges.

Kamboj said: “Earlier in 2016, present Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Member of Parliament Preneet Kaur had assured us that our demands will be fulfilled. For the past four years, the ruling dispensation has been ignoring them,” he added. — TNS