Teachers attempt suicide outside Education Minister’s house in Jalandhar

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 22

Several protesting unemployed members of the B Ed TET Pass Unemployed Teachers’ Union attempted suicide in front of the residence of Education Minister Pargat Singh on Wednesday.

While the Cabinet minister’s home has turned into a cantonment as regular protests are taking place outside his residence for the past over a month, teachers on Wednesday took it a step further as several of them poured kerosene oil on their body in a bid to commit suicide.

While chaotic scenes were witnessed as unemployed teachers raised slogans against the state government, things heated up when several of them tried immolating self. Cops apprehended several teachers as they poured oil on themselves while being apprehended by the police. Several teachers were held and oil bottles and match sticks were snatched from them as they tried setting themselves on fire.

Teachers Sandeep Gill, Amandeep Sekha and Jagsir Singh poured oil on themselves and tried lighting matches before being prevented by cops and colleagues.

Scuffle-like scenes and utter chaos prevailed outside the minister’s residence as teachers indulged in intense sloganeering and cops tried to control the situation. Irate teachers pushed and pulled as cops held them back from the residence and snatched oil and matchsticks from them.

Two teachers — Jawant Ghubaya and Munish Fazilka — who have been protesting atop a tank in Jalandhar, also threatened to commit suicide.

While the state government recently released notification for the recruitment of 4,185 teachers, in response to three month long protest by B Ed TET Pass Unemployed Teachers’ Union, teachers have in turn complained that there was no clarity yet whether these recruitments also include posts of SST, Hindi and Punjabi teacher.

Their three-month protest has been on the prime demand of advertisements of posts of 9,000 teachers specifically in the aforementioned subjects.

Union leader Sukhwinder Singh Dhilwan said: “Teachers are fed up of the government’s doublespeak that’s why they attempted suicide today. Government has released notification, but teachers can’t apply for these yet. Also, there is no clarity whether these include the three subjects in which we need maximum recruitments.”