Rally in Tarn Taran against govt’s ‘anti-aided schools policy’

Thousands of teachers, employees, and pensioners from 484 government-aided schools will hold a massive protest rally at Gandhi Park, Railway Road, Tarn Taran, on November 1 at 10.30 am. The demonstration will highlight the state government’s failure to release salaries and grants pending for several months.

Monika Sharma, district president of the Aided-Schools Employees Union, Kapurthala, and Balwinder Kaur, district secretary, said the rally would be followed by a protest march to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) office. The rally aimed to press the government to withdraw its “anti-aided school” policies and immediately release the withheld grants.

According to the union leaders, the Finance Department has failed to release the grants for seven months, leaving thousands of aided school employees in financial distress. In Kapurthala district, some staff have not been paid for 19 months, while others wait salaries for the past nine months. Despite repeated meetings with ministers and departmental officials, no concrete action has been taken.

The leaders alleged that under the pretext of audit objections, the Finance Department has withheld the grants that have been regularly issued under the Grant-in-Aid Scheme since 1967. “This arbitrary suspension of grants since April 2025 has pushed thousands of employees and pensioners to the brink of starvation,” said Monika.

They further stated that the “inhuman treatment” meted out to aided school staff by the Chief Minister, Finance Minister, Education Minister, and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal has caused widespread resentment among 1,700 teachers and 6,000 pensioner families across Punjab.