Contractual employees protest outside minister Soni’s residence

Raise anti-govt slogans, hand over a memorandum of their demands to medical education and research minister OP Soni

Contractual employees working under the education department’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) on Sunday held a protest outside Punjab medical education and research minister OP Soni’s Amritsar residence over their demand of regularisation.

Contractual employees during a protest in Amritsar on Sunday.

Holding placards criticising what they called the state government’s “anti-employee policies”, hundreds of protesters, including women, handed over a memorandum of their demands to the minister.

Earlier, the protesters raising slogans against the state government held a protest march towards the minister’s house. Heavy police force and anti-riot vehicles were deployed outside the minister’s house.

“Before coming to power, the Congress had promised to regularise all contractual employees. It has been more than four years but our demand has not been met,” said SSA Non-Teaching Staff (Mid-Day-Meal) Union’s state president Asish Julaha.

He said, “In 2018, the state government regularised 8,866 contractual teachers working under the SSA, but the decision on nearly 1,000 non-teaching staff remained pending. We will intensify our struggle if our demand is not met in the coming days.”

They lifted their protest only after Soni assured them that their “genuine demand” was being considered by a committee of ministers.

Soni said, “The government is already considering their demand which is genuine. We will try to take a decision on it in the next cabinet meeting.”