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Jobs to Congress MLAs’ sons: LIP leaders, workers detained after scuffle with cops in Ludhiana
Minor scuffles broke out between the LIP protesters and cops as the workers attempted to break through the police barricades, following which around two dozen workers, including women, were detained in Ludhiana
At least 24 Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) leaders and workers were detained near Bharat Nagar Chowk on Tuesday as they marched towards the deputy commissioner’s (DC’s) office to protest against the state government’s controversial decision to provide jobs to the sons of two Congress MLAs on Tuesday.
Alleging that the administration had failed to provide jobs to thousands of unemployed youngsters in the district while MLAs’ sons were being hired on compassionate grounds, LIP workers led by state president of the youth wing Gagandeep Singh Sunny Kainth marched towards the Mini Secretariat to lock up the DC’s office.
Minor scuffles broke out between the protesters and cops as the workers attempted to break through the police barricades, following which around two dozen workers, including women, were detained.
“Arjun Partap Singh Bajwa, the son of Qadian MLA Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa, has been appointed a Group B inspector in the Punjab Police, while Bhisham Pandey, the son of Ludhiana (north) MLA Rakesh Pandey, has been made naib tehsildar. However, the fate of the thousands of youngsters who had filled forms under the ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ mission is still up in the air,” said Kainth.
On the party’s decision to lock up the DC’s office, LIP student wing president Harjap Gill said, “Deputy commissioner Varinder Sharma should clarify how many of the youngsters who had registered themselves at job fairs organised by the state government and administration have been provided jobs. Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh approved the jobs to gain the MLAs’ backing amid a feud in the Congress.”
Saying that the youth had been backstabbed, Kainth said, “Teachers and other contractual staff in different sectors have been agitating, while the government has announced jobs for the sons of affluent MLAs, who have crores in their coffers.”
Division number 5 police station house officer Kuldeep Singh said LIP workers and leaders were detained to maintain law and order. “No FIR has been lodged against the protesters and they were released after some time,” he said.
At a time when epidemiologists have advised caution and predicted a third wave of the Covid pandemic, a large number of LIP workers gathered at the protest site, disregarding social distancing and masking protocols.
