Teachers to meet CM on Dec 17

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 9

A day after the cancellation of transfers of as many as 96 teachers of the SSA/RMSA Union across the state, even as tempers still run high with SSA-RMSA teachers’ salaries slashed by less than half, the union is now pegging its hopes on a meeting with the CM on December 17. In a meeting held today, teachers decided that if the government does not review their salaries, they will hold an intense struggle on the issue in January after the poll code is lifted.

However, for the time being, schools where protests had disrupted the work after teachers were transferred were reopened after assurances were given recently by the Education Department.

While over a 1,000 teachers had been transferred across the state by the department after they refused to accept the regularisation option given by the state government, the dharna held in Patiala was lifted a few days ago after the Education Minister assured that teachers’ victimisation would be stopped, salaries would be reviewed and their meeting would be arranged with the Chief Minister.

Following the assurance, so far, over 100 teachers in the district await the cancellation of their transfers. Of the 450 SSA-RMSA teachers in the city, only 105 had chosen regularisation.

While the government had transferred as many as 117 teachers in Jalandhar, of these only four transfers have been cancelled so far.

Meanwhile, a state-level meeting of the union was held at the local Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall today, where it was decided that a state-level ‘Chetna convention’ of the union will be held on December 16 in the city. They said across the state, block meetings would be held to prepare for the convention. The teachers also demanded the government to release the salaries of union members for the past six months.

With the teachers’ meeting with the Chief Minister still pending, several schools where teachers were transferred, have begun opening though.

While students had locked up many of the schools after the transfer of teachers, after the Education Minster’s assurance that salaries will be reviewed and teachers will be posted again, many of the previously protesting schools remained open on Friday and Saturday.