Teacher unions blame it on poor govt policies

Aparn Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 12

Saade Punjab de sabka maanyog sikhiya mantri Daljit Singh Cheema chunavi prikhiya vich 31,903 ank haasal karke buri tarah fail hoe han. Hun eslayi ohnan di jawadehi vi puchni bandi hai te ohnan lai remedial coaching da vi prabandh karna banda hai.... (Our Punjab’s former respected Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema has failed in the election exam by getting 31,903 marks. Now, it is imperative to ask him the cause of the failure and also provide him remedial coaching).

Posts like these trend on various social networking sites after the debacle of Education Minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema in the Rupnagar Assembly constituency on Saturday. While anti-incumbency had been evident for the SAD, Dr Cheema was at the receiving end of the teaching community in the state. Gaining notoriety for a record number of agitations and anti-teacher crackdowns during his tenure, Cheema, however, was yet another state Education Minister who suffered from the jinx of his ministry. He is the third Akali and last in a long list of education ministers of the state (including Congress ministers) who lost the elections subsequent to their bagging the ministry.

Among Akali education ministers, he was preceded by Sikander Singh Maluka and earlier by Bibi Upinderjit Kaur, who both lost their respective elections after securing the educational ministerial position. Cheema himself lost the Rupnagar constituency by a record margin of 27,091 votes. While AAP’s Amarjit Singh Sandoa won from the constituency by getting 58,994 votes, Congress’ Brinder Singh Dhillon was the runner-up, getting 35,287 votes and SAD’s education minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema came third with 31,903 votes in his favour. While teachers spent even the election season demanding regularisation benefits, as per an Act passed by the government right before the state went to the polls, many of them termed Dr Cheema’s loss justice for them.

Harjinder Khaira, state committee member of the Sikhiya Providers Union, said, “After Tota Singh, Dr Cheema has been the worst education minister. There were record number of agitations and arrests during his tenure. And teachers felt discriminated against. Often, teachers were asked in a foul language by the minister – he said things to them like – tuhade ch akar bahut hai (you are very haughty), bhaj jao (run away). How a minister treats us, matters. We did not feel respected, leave alone our demands – they were not met either. While the new appointees last year were kept at meagre salaries, many teachers in the state were being paid less than labourers. Additionally, there were crackdowns and agitations which were met with random arrests. The anger has spilled onto the elections.”

SSA/RMSA Teachers Union Ram leader Bhajan Chaudhary said, “For months, the government played on TV and radio that teachers were being regularized, but in the end nothing happened. Teachers were indeed agitated. For a long time, the demands of teachers are not being taken seriously by education ministers. While the policies are only on paper, the Education Minister has not fought for the cause of teachers. Former minister Maluka started the trend of arresting teachers if they agitated, and during Dr Cheema’s regime, this only got intensified. The angst of all these policies spilled over during elections. We are hoping the government will take our demands seriously and pay heed to them.”