Amritsar: 3 years on, teachers, ASHA workers’ struggle for demands continues

Ignored and agitated. The two words describe how government employees, including a large segment of teachers and associated workers, have been feeling against the state government over the last year. The AAP-led state government had won the 2022 Assembly elections with a huge support from teachers and government employees who had voted in favour of the party with high hopes.

Three years after coming to power of the AAP government in the state, the same segment of employees, be it ETTS, associate teachers of colleges and universities, school teachers, mid-day meal workers, ASHA and other government employees, all are still holding protests over unfulfilled promises.

Today, a joint front of government employees, including all the aforementioned sections, held a district-level rally in front of the DC office to remind them of the promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party. They also submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Government through Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney.

The demands

Mamta Sharma, president of Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Union, said before coming to power, the Bhagwant Mann-led state government had promised to double the allowances of the ASHA and mid-day meal workers as soon as it came to power. “But even after three and a half years, not a single penny has been increased in the salaries of honorarium workers by the previous government. The employees were already living in poverty, with a salary of Rs 3,000 a month. Nothing has changed for us, rather it has also become difficult for their families to survive.”

Germanjit Singh, representing the Democratic Employees’ Federation and a government school teacher, said the primary responsibility of the Punjab Government towards the employees was to release the incentives and to pay honorarium as per the minimum wages, which should have been implemented soon after AAP came to power. “During the polls, the AAP had promised regular jobs, honorariums and other monetary benefits, which are pending still,” he said.

Sukhjinder Kaur Chhajjalwadi of the Sanjha Workers’ Morcha said due to non-payment of salaries to honorarium workers as per the fixed minimum wages; not providing free insurance facilities of Rs 5 lakh, unfair dismissals from jobs and not giving annual promotions every year, the patience of honorarium workers across Punjab has drained. “We will mobilise against the state government in Ludhiana on June 16 and hold a protest march towards the house of AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora as he campaigns for the Ludhiana by-election.”

Teacher’s ire

Government teachers too have been against the AAP government over issues like job regularisation, recruitments or allowances. Meritorious teachers, considered highly qualified, have been up in arms against the state government on the issue of regularisation that has kept them from availing monetary benefits on a par with their counterparts in government schools. Computer teachers have been seeking regularisation as well, while ETTs are still waiting for their appointment letters.