Aided school staff sans salary since April, to court arrest in Tarn Taran

Teachers and employees of all aided schools in Kapurthala district have announced a massive “Jail Bharo Andolan” against the government’s “anti-aided school policies.” The decision was taken during an emergency meeting held at Ramgarhia Girls Senior Secondary School, Old Post Office Road, Phagwara, under the leadership of Monica Sharma, district president of the Aided School Teachers’ Union.

Representatives of school managements, social organisations, pensioners and staff members participated in the deliberations.

Addressing a gathering, Sharma said aided school employees across the state have been left without salaries for the past eight months, forcing them into severe financial hardships. Despite repeated reminders, the government has not released salary from April to December 2025. The participants unanimously resolved that if the salary is not released by November 6, all aided school staff will court arrest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Tarn Taran on November 7.

Sharma revealed that a joint meeting of the Punjab State Government Aided School Teachers and Employees Union, Punjab Aided School Pensioners Association and Aided School Management Association was held in Tarn Taran during which it was decided that nearly 1,700 serving employees and over 6,000 retired teachers and staff will court arrest after holding massive protest march in Tarn Taran markets.

The unions also warned that if the district administration refuses to arrest the protesters on November 7, demonstrations will be expanded to towns and villages across the Tarn Taran assembly constituency on November 8 and 9. They will highlight that the teachers, responsible for education of 1.76 lakh students in aided schools, have been surviving without pay for several months.

“The public will be told how the government’s claims of an ‘education revolution’ stand exposed when teachers are forced to work without salaries,” Sharma said.

Social workers Raman Nehra, Varinder Sharma and Navita Chhabra also addressed the meeting, appealing to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the government to release pending salaries at the earliest.