College teachers protest govt apathy

Colleges affiliated with Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) in Ludhiana are staging a protest against the Punjab Government’s and Department of Higher Education’s indifferent attitude towards them. This demonstration is a response to the authorities’ lack of concern for the teachers and the welfare of higher education. Today, teachers of various colleges in Ludhiana district began a two-day protest against the Punjab Government and bureaucracy of the higher education department. Their main concern was the apathetic approach of the state government.

Dr Varun Goel, an executive member of the PCCTU, stated that the union’s leadership met with Secretary of Higher Education KK Yadav and Director of Higher Education Sanyam Aggarwal in 2024 to express their concerns, but no action had been taken by the officials to date. The non-responsive attitude of the bureaucracy of the higher education department has put the entire higher education of the state at crossroads, said Goel.

According to Dr Sunder Singh, District President of Ludhiana PCCTU, one of their major demands was the fixation of college teachers’ pay scales under the revised pay scales. Files have been pending in the Department of Higher Education for over a year, and it is shocking that the department has taken more than a year to clear them. Many teachers have also raised concerns about corruption in the file-clearing process, but officials have not addressed these allegations. Representatives of PCCTU have warned the officials concerned that if their demands continue to be ignored, they will be forced to escalate their protests in the coming days.