Teachers’ union holds protest, wants services regularised

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 2

Teachers associated with the 5178 Master Cadre Union, Punjab, held a protest at the Nehru Park here on Tuesday.

Demanding regularisation of jobs, they later took out a march towards the Chief Minister’s residence. However, they were stopped by the police at the fountain chowk.

Teachers from as far as Ludhiana, Ropar, Barnala, Sangrur, Fatehgarh Sahib and Mohali came to the city to join the protest.

Deep Raj, state committee member of the union said, “Teachers associated with our organisation had cleared their TET examination in 2011 and were hired in 2014 at a monthly salary of Rs 6,000. The Education Department had taken their files for regularisation in November 2017, but it has been 10 months now that they have not been taken any step.”

He said, “Not only this, these teachers have been working without salary for several months now.”

Later, the teachers submitted a memorandum to Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Anmol Singh Dhaliwal.

The teachers said the state government had earlier offered them Rs 10,000 yearly increment or regularisation of jobs from 2019. They would not accept such offers, they said.

They also threatened that they would organise a hunger strike if their demands were not met.