Protests continue in colleges over cut in retirement age

Jalandhar, February 16

The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU, representing more than 170 colleges of the state, has been continuing its protests over reducing the retirement age of aided college teachers from 60 to 58.

The entire faculty of Lyallpur Khalsa College participated in a rally on Thursday. Hundreds of Jalandhar-based college teachers assembled at a massive rally at Desh Bhagat Singh Yadgaar Hall on a call given by Joint Action Committee consisting of PCCTU, Principal Federation and Management Federation to mark their protest.

Speakers at the rally insisted that the present government has turned against the teacher community by formulating such policies that were against the election manifesto of the ruling party.

The demonstrators chanted the slogans of the protest movement, “Punjab sarkar hosh mein aao, Teachers unity zindabad and Seventh Pay Commission lagu karo and Teachers demand puri karo.”

The agitators protested the “wrong policies of the state government” and submitted a memorandum of their demands to the Deputy Commissioner. One of their main demands is the rollback of the decision on retirement age of aided college teachers. “In another move against the colleges, the Punjab government has made admission to the colleges mandatory through the centralised portal without taking the stakeholders into confidence,” the teachers rued.