Teachers protest assault on booth-level officer during electoral roll revision duty in Patiala

Teachers’ unions staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Tuesday, demanding the arrest of a man accused of assaulting a booth-level officer (BLO) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) duty in Patiala.

According to the protesters, Harpreet Singh, an ETT teacher posted at Government Primary School, Nawan Rakhra, was allegedly attacked by a resident at Anand Nagar-B on Monday while he was carrying out voter list revision work. The protesters alleged that the accused abused and assaulted the teacher without any provocation.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (Urban) Navreet Kaur Sekhon met the protesters and accepted a memorandum from them. She assured them that the accused would be arrested soon and adequate security would be provided to employees engaged in SIR duties.

The teachers also raised concerns over what they described as the burden of multiple non-teaching assignments, including anti-drug campaign and socio-economic Census work. They demanded that teachers be relieved of additional duties so that they could focus on academic responsibilities.

The activists of the Democratic Teachers’ Front, Government Teachers’ Union and Punjab State Subordinate Services Federation termed the assault a serious attack on a government employee performing official duties.

They warned that if the administration failed to address their demands and ensure employees’ safety, the organisations would intensify their protest.