Protesting woman dies in Dera Bassi

Our Correspondent

Mohali, December 19

Even as the protest by the Inclusive Education Volunteers (IEV) entered its 30th day here today, one of the woman participants died due to ‘exposure to cold’.

Leaders of the IEV Union said the victim, Sinder Pal Kaur of Dera Bassi block, was expecting and had been participating in the fast for the last few days. She suddenly fell ill and was sent home.

They said she was taken to a Dera Bassi hospital where she died while giving birth on Thursday. They, however, alleged that Kaur had died due to pneumonia. The baby, they said, was doing fine.

The IEVs have been protesting outside the office of the Director General, School Education, Punjab, in Phase VIII here in support of their demands.

Their demands include regularisation of their services and release of their pending dues. They said they had been working as IEVs for the past seven years on a meagre amount of Rs 4,500 per month which hadn’t been paid for past nine months.