Teacher unions, AAP leaders defend suspended Goindwal Sahib teacher

Certain unions of government teachers and even state leaders from the ruling AAP have come out in support of Gurpartap Singh, the in-charge of Government Senior Secondary Smart School in Goindwal Sahib, who was suspended from his services on Sunday, May 4, by the DPI (Secondary), Mohali.

The DPI issued the suspension order on Sunday, alleging that Gurpartap Singh had used school students as waiters during an official function organised at the school.

Harpreet Singh Dhunna, district media in-charge of AAP and Director of the Punjab Mandi Board, condemned the suspension, asserting that Gurpartap Singh had done nothing wrong. He mentioned that he was present at the event and that a video of the incident had gone viral on social media. Dhunna added that AAP workers and local leaders had discussed the issue with Manjinder Singh Lalpura, MLA from Khadoor Sahib, who assured that no injustice would be done to Gurpartap Singh during the departmental inquiry.

Karaj Singh Kairoin, district president of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation; Balkar Singh Valtoha, state advisor of the Punjab Government Teachers Union; Prabhjot Singh Gohalwar, district president of the BEd Teacher’s Front, Punjab; and others have criticised the department’s decision, stating that the suspension was unjustified since no inquiry had been conducted before the action was taken.