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Jobless teachers protesting against govt detained in Punjab’s Sunam
Punjab Police have also initiated action under sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC against the detainees, who were released in the evening
Punjab Police rounded up hundreds of unemployed physical training instructors (PTI) protesting against the state government in Sunam on Sunday.
Cops have also initiated action under sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC against the detainees, who were released in the evening.
They were protesting outside the venue where a state-level function was organised to mark the martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also participated in the event.
The protesters gathered at the site in the morning, but the police detained them to clear the venue before the arrival of the CM. Sippy Sharma, whom APP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal had called sister, was also rounded up by cops.
Rajpal Singh, core committee member of the union, said, “We gathered to meet the CM and request him to fulfil our demands. But the police have rounded up all of them. We do not need anything. We are just demanding jobs.”
He said in 2011, the then state government had started the recruitment of PTIs and the issue went to the Punjab and Haryana high court in the same year.
“In November 2021, the court had directed the state government to complete the recruitment process, but no action has been taken by the government on the court’s directions,” he added.
Sunam DSP Bharpur Singh said, “We released them after taking preventive action under sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC.”
Meanwhile, unemployed ETT-qualified teachers also clashed with cops while trying to march towards CM’s residence on Sunday afternoon. The cops and administration had earlier promised them an audience with the CM and later refused to organise a meeting with him.
Annoyed over refusal, they tried to break the barricade and scuffled with cops.
Deepak Kamboj, president of the unemployed TET pass teachers’ union, said they were demanding from the government to complete the recruitment of 6,635 teachers and reinstate recruitment of 2,364 teachers, which was cancelled by the court. They were also demanding that the government should start hiring 5,994 teachers, posts for whom were advertised in November last year.
