College teachers protest in Amritsar, seek UGC scales

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 8

Several teachers’ unions and organisations on Friday held protests in the city, raising their demands with preparations for the Assembly elections getting underway.

The district unit of the PCCTU and teachers of all the aided colleges of Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts organised a candle march demanding the implementation of UGC’s 7th Commission Pay Scale. Teachers of DAV College, BBK DAV, Khalsa College, BEd College, SN College, Hindu College and Feruman College, Rayya, participated in this march. College teachers have been on strike for the last several months demanding the implementation of UGC’s 7th pay scale in Punjab University and all universities and colleges in the state, alleging that the state government had been giving assurances again and again, but not fulfilling their demands.

Dr Gurdas Singh Sekhon, unit head, DAV College, said the seventh pay commission should be implemented soon, delink should be stopped from the UGC scale. “If the government does not call for talks soon, the teachers will be forced to strike on the streets,” he said.

A delegation of DPT (Doctorate of Physical Therapy) teachers, led by Keshav Kohli, raised their demands by submitting a memorandum to Cabinet minister Pargat Singh. Their demands are regularisation of various DPT and PT teachers, hike in wages and making physical education an important and mandatory subject in schools.

Meanwhile, the Punjab UT Employees and Pensioners Joint Front’s Amritsar unit also burnt an effigy of CM Channi, demanding the revised pay scales according to the pay commission. They also demanded to give equal benefits as enjoyed by regular employees to those recruited after December 31, 2015, under the Probation Act and Implementation of Workers and Minimum Wages Act.