Teachers of meritorious schools seek regular jobs

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 14

Members of the Meritorious School Teachers’ Union took out a protest march and later sat on a dharna outside the residence of PPC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu here on Saturday.

De-addiction centre staff on a warpath

Tarn Taran: The state government-run de-addiction centres remained closed for the entire day on Saturday as the employees protested holding black flags in their hands. Rajwinder Singh, district president of Drug De-addiction and Rehabilitation Employees’ Union, Punjab, and others addressed the agitating employees at Tharu centre. The leaders condemned the state government for not regularising their services though they had put in more than seven years’ service in the Health Department. He said the organisation had given a call to observe ‘Slavery Day’ on Independence Day, as the state government was hell bent upon ruining their life. He said they were given meagre salary though they work for full day with sincerity. Patients faced a tough time and had to cover long distance to take medicine, as few centres remained opened. Patients of Tharu came to Tarn Taran and that of Bhagupur approached Harike. Those from Miandwind came to Khadoor Sahib centre to take their medicines. There were total 20,000 patients in the district, who are getting treatment at these centres. OC

Raising the issue of regularisation of jobs, the teachers, who came from across the state, demanded that the services of teachers of meritorious be regularised.

“The government has been procrastinating on the matter of regularisation of the services of teachers in meritorious schools. All teachers are highly qualified, some with multiple PhDs and were recruited through a rigorous process. Despite the fact that the teachers have been working tirelessly to improve academic results of schools, we are left with nothing but false promises. While working on contract, there is no scope for promotion or monetary benefits. It has become tough for teachers to survive,” said Prithpal Singh, protester.

Notably, the process of regularisation of teachers in meritorious schools was started in 2019, but it was suspended midway. There are around 240 teachers who were recruited between 2014 and 2018 and are waiting to be regularised.