Education volunteers back to protest path

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 21

Infuriated by the delay in the release of salaries for the past nine months, the members of the Inclusive Education Volunteers Association today staged an agitation at Children’s Park and burnt an effigy of the state government while raising slogans against it. Although the protestors had planned to take out a protest march as well, they were not allowed to do so by the police department.

Accusing the state government of treating them in a step-motherly manner, president of the union, Satnam Singh Sandoha said the special education volunteers and their family members were finding it difficult to make both ends meet and had resorted to borrowing money from friends and relatives.

They said because of shortage of money, several volunteers suffered loss of family members as they couldn’t arrange money for their treatment. While criticising the state government for spending crores on kabaddi tournament, vice-president of the union Gurwinder Singh said, “The government didn’t think twice before spending such a huge amount on a sports tournament. They couldn’t even spare money to pay the teachers who were behind securing a better future of the handicapped children of the state.”

The protestors also threatened that if the state government didn’t release their salaries, they would observe 2015 as a black year and boycott the municipal elections and hold demonstrations across the state.

While elaborating on their demands, the protestors said the salaries for the last nine months should be released at the earliest, volunteers should be promoted on the basis of their experience and suitable remuneration should be provided to a volunteer Shinderpal Kaur who lost her newborn baby since she didn’t had enough money for her treatment.

These 1,352 teachers are paid Rs 4,500 per month for teaching physically challenged children in district. Apart from teaching, the volunteers also work towards helping them in their physiotherapy routine.