The dharna by the teachers employed under the Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative Innovative Education (AIE) schemes, today acquired political overtones as PPP chief Manpreet Badal and Harminder Singh Jassi met the protesters and accused the
state government of not heeding to the demands of the teachers.
On Sunday morning, as many as 11 teachers had climbed atop a water tank located near Gol Diggi, in the heart of the city. The situation looked a little tense in the evening as a large posse of police personnel, a fire tender and police vans were stationed near the water tank.
Addressing the protesters today, chief of the People’s Party of Punjab, Manpreet Badal, said, “The SAD-BJP alliance has done everything to curb the democratic rights of the people. Apart from taking their jobs and not heeding their demands, now the government is meting out condemnable treatment to the teachers who have been fighting for their rights.”
He added that instead of solving the problems of the teachers, the government was rubbing them the wrong way by using water cannons and by filing cases against them. The PPP chief also told the teachers to not give up under the pressure of the state government and assured them the support of his party.
After sending food for the protesting teachers on Sunday night, general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Harminder Singh Jassi today visited the teachers and extended his party’s support to them.
“The demands of the teachers are valid as they have been unemployed for more than three years now. The state government should take a serious look at the plight of these teachers and see how hard they are finding it to make both ends meet. The government had taken strict action against these teachers in Bhokhra only a couple of days ago,” he said.
Braving the cold
Sitting atop the water tank for two days now, Bina Rani, Sukhvinder Kaur, Suman Rani, Paramjit Kaur, Manga Singh, Mandip Kaur, Ranjit Kaur, Birbal Singh, Kulbir Singh, Samarjit Singh and Babbu have been braving the cold weather with the sun refusing to come out on Sunday and Monday.
On Sunday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 18.2 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature at 7.4 degree Celsius. While on Monday, the temperature rose a little at 22.2 degree Celsius and 11 degree Celsius, respectively, the wind velocity increased by the evening making the weather chilly.
Gurnoor Kaur, seven-month-old daughter of Kirandeep Kaur, one of the teachers, was to be taken to the Civil Hospital today as she fell ill due to the harsh weather. The teachers added that several other children had also started falling sick due to the cold. They also alleged that the district administration had made sure that the protestors didn’t get quilts and tents to beat the chill.
Request for meeting with CM turned down
“The DC had offered to fix a meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. But we didn’t accept the offer since we are tired of holding meetings with the leaders of the state government. During all these meetings, the CM has avoided giving a solution to our problems,” said Sukhchain Mansa, one of the protesters at the site.
The protesting teachers threatened that they would turn the protest into a historic one if the police tried to use force on them. “We have already lost four of our teachers during protests in the past and more are ready to sacrifice. Makhan Kaur, who was with us during the protest at Bhokhra village on Januarty 24, passed away last night in a Mansa hospital,” Sukhchain added.
“Our families are with us. They are supporting our protest. They tell us that if the government doesn't respect its teachers, we have the right to demand our rights," said Mandip, who was atop the tank.
Demands
Sukhchain stated that they have met the CM four times in the past one month, on December 25 and on January 8, 19 and 30. But the meetings failed to bear fruit.
Elaborating on their recruitment process, he said they were recruited to work at the EGS centres in the state and were paid Rs 1,000 per month. In 2008, the teachers began demanding permanent jobs and were asked to pursue elementary teacher training (ETT).
“It took us two years to complete the course, but our services were never resumed and in 2011, the government asked us to clear the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) as per the rules of the Right to Education Act (RTE). We were recruited in 2003, then why is the government bringing us under RTE?” asked Sukhchain.
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