JBT teachers brave water cannon

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 14

The Chandigarh police used a water cannon to disperse hundreds of JBT teachers as they tried to march towards the Housing Board Chowk to lay siege to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s residence in Chandigarh today.

The protesters said instructions had been issued to appoint 12,731 selected JBT teachers more than two years ago but the state government, despite repeated assurances, had not appointed them.

According to information, the protesters gathered in Sector 5 at the back of the Hafed building and raised slogans against the state government. Thereafter, they moved towards Chandigarh to lay siege to CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s residence. When they reached near the Housing Board Chowk, they were stopped by the Chandigarh police. When the protesters, including women, tried to scale the barricades, the police used a water cannon to disperse them.

Chander Prakash, while talking to the media, said they had met the OSD to CM several times with regard to their long-standing demands, but to no avail. He said the state government had submitted before the court that there were 16,254 vacancies of JBT teachers in the state but the government misled them by appointing guest teachers. He said the Education Department had long back verified the documents of the applicants from other districts but the authorities concerned were not giving proper reply about their appointments.

Parkash said they had met CM Khattar, then Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma and officials of the Education Department, but no concrete action had been taken in their case. Barring officials of the district administration, no senior official of the district administration reached the site to receive their memorandum.