Protesting ETT teachers reach Punjab CM's house; Patiala police 'lathicharge' them; 100 detained

Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, March 28

Unemployed ETT teachers were spotted protesting outside Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s Moti Bagh residence on Sunday afternoon.

Patiala police lathi-charged against the protestors, and detained hundreds of teachers who had forced their way into the main gate of CM’s residence, and held sit-downs there.

Reportedly, several teachers had fractures as well.

The protesting teachers complained that the state government had been continuously ignoring their demands.

They were questioning the Education Department’s decision to allow B.Ed graduates to apply for the posts of ETT teachers.

They demanded that the Department should repeal the provision of B.Ed entry into their cadres, and advertise 10,000 n32 posts of ETT teachers immediately.

President of Unemployed ETT Teachers Union, Deepak Kamboj, said: “The teachers, including women, were thrashed and lathi-charged by the police for raising their voice. We, for months now, have been protesting, but the government has failed to address the issue. Our many teachers have received serious injuries in the police lathi charge.”

 Notably, two ETT teachers have been holding a protest atop a mobile tower in the city for over a week now.

Patiala: Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, state president, Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic), condemned police lathi charge against unemployed teachers.

“It is very shameful that Police lathi charged against teachers, who have been fighting for their rights since long. I strongly condemned police action,” he said.