Teachers to hold protest against govt in Gurdaspur on Sept 28

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 23

Members of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)/Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) Teachers’ Union have announced to stage a state-level protest against the state government in Gurdaspur on September 28.

Deepak Bansal, district president of the union, said it was unfortunate that while campaigning during the elections, Congress leaders had promised that all employees working on a contractual basis would be regularised within one month after the formation of the government.

He added that despite the fact that six months had passed, the party had not done anything in this regard.

“Teachers recruited under the SSA and RMSA fulfilled all eligibility criteria. During their joining, they were told that after completing three years on contract, their jobs will be regularised. But no action has been taken in this regard. Despite working for the past 13 years on contract, the teachers are left with no option but to stage a protest for getting their jobs regularised,” he added.

Bansal said apart from getting their jobs regularised, the teachers were also struggling to get their salaries and allowances on time.

The union members further added that in 2015, the Education Department had drafted a policy to regularise the services of those working on contract. They said despite the fact that two years had passed, nothing had been done in this regard.

The members said in December 2016, the then SAD-BJP government had even drafted a bill to regularise the service but the present government was shying away from implementing the bill.

They added that to make the public aware of ‘ant-people policies’ of the government, they would hold a state-level protest in Gurdaspur where the bypoll is scheduled to be held next month.