Teachers to stage protest against govt over demands

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, January 12

Members of the 5178 Master Cadre Union along with the Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha will stage a protest against the government on January 15 in the district. They will protest against the state government for allegedly not fulfilling their promises of regularisation of jobs and cancellation of transfer of teachers. The decision was taken at a meeting held at Teachers’ Home on Saturday.

The executive members of the union said both Education Minister Om Parkash Soni and the state government had allegedly failed to deliver on their promises.

Kulwinder Singh, president of the union, said, “The Education Minister had asked the teachers’ union to call off their hunger strike in Patiala on December 2 by assuring them of regularising the services of teachers, recruited under 5178 master cadre from January 1, 2019, onwards and cancelling the transfers ordered by the department. Though we have ended the strike, the government has not taken any concrete step to deliver on its promises so far. In other words, the government has backtracked on its own decision now.”

“In today’s meeting, we decided our future course of action in the matter. After conducting a protest march on January 15 in the district on February 2, we, along with members of the Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha, would carry out a protest march in Patiala. If government does not relent and fulfil our demands, we will intensify our stir. We demand that rather than giving verbal assurances, the state government must issue notification regarding the regularisation of jobs of 5178 master cadre teachers,” added Singh.

The executive members said despite clearing the TET exam conducted by the state government, they had been working on a low salary since December 2014. As per the appointment letter, their jobs were to be regularised after three years. Despite assuring them of providing the appointment letter with regard to regularisation, the government kept delaying the matter for around a year. The teachers recruited under the 5178 master cadre in November 2014 had been getting a salary of Rs 7,000 per month since then. The state government had appointed these teachers on the condition that their services would be regularised after three years of appointment and they would be given full salary.