Government school teachers and mid-day meal workers are gearing up for fresh protests on September 8, fueled by growing resentment over the Punjab government’s directive to initiate action against employees who participated in an earlier mass leave agitation.
In addition to mass leave by teachers, mid-day meal workers have formally notified district education authorities that they will suspend meal preparation in government schools to join the march in Mohali.
Parveen Kumari, district president of the Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Union, stated that pre-election promises regarding honorarium hikes remain unfulfilled. “Before coming to power, the government promised to double our honorarium, but nothing has happened so far. Our demands also include implementation of the ESI scheme, five lakh rupees gratuity, and a monthly pension of at least nine thousand rupees after retirement,” she said.
Meanwhile, teachers have opposed state instructions urging department secretaries to take action against employees absent during previous demonstrations. Jagjit Singh Mann, district president of the Government Teachers’ Union, said all participating employees had formally applied for leave beforehand.
“The letter says action will be taken against teachers for being absent without authorisation, but all the employees had applied for leave. This is only a way to threaten us,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“The letter says action will be taken against teachers for being absent without authorisation, but all the employees had applied for leave. This is only a way to threaten us,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Harjit Sudhar, district general secretary of the Democratic Teachers Front, warned that employees are prepared to escalate the agitation unless the administration withdraws the directives and addresses their grievances. The upcoming strike is expected to disrupt school meal arrangements and administrative functioning across the state amid ongoing friction over wages, benefits, and service conditions.