Teachers’ union lambasts govt for ignoring their plight

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 19

Not paid salaries for 13 months, when the teachers recruited under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) and the CSS scheme planned to stage a series of demonstrations in Bathinda last year in May, they must not have foreseen that they would have to spend more than a month behind the bars and had to before the court.

“Instead of settling the matter, we have been given a new date for hearing. Is it a crime to demand salaries on time for the work we do? The state government accused us of threatening the law and order situation by staging dharnas but it did not spare a thought for our households and how we are managing the same without being paid for 13 months,” said Bidar Singh Mudki, state president of the SSA-RMSA-CSS Teachers’ Union.

The 148 teachers, who were arrested during separate demonstrations on May 1 and May 5 last year, were first rounded-up and then arrested. They were sent to the Faridkot jail. Among the jailed teachers were 43 women teachers.

“In a statement recently, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had stated that he was always available to meet people. We have been trying to met him for the past two years but failed. After being released from the jail, the teachers gathered in large numbers in April in Ludhiana and demanded a meeting with the CM but our demand was not met,” Mudki added.

He further said that now the teachers had to appear for hearing in Bathinda on 15-16 April. “Those who were arrested on May 1 will have to appear for hearing on April 16 and those arrested on May 5 will have to appear on April 15, he said.

Elaborating on the demands of the teachers, Mudki said they had been demanding that they be brought under the Education Department and their jobs be regularised. The teachers also want that their salaries be increased and paid on time. Mudki added that despite protests, they had not been paid for the past three-and-a-half months.