Protests, rallies halt city
It was a day of protests and rallies in the city. Protesters blocked roads at will causing inconvenience to the people and the police almost remained a mute spectator and failed to make arrangements for smooth traffic flow.
It was a day of protests and rallies in the city. Protesters blocked roads at will causing inconvenience to the people and the police almost remained a mute spectator and failed to make arrangements for smooth traffic flow.
Some policemen were seen directing traffic at the scooter and motorcycle rally organised by BJP, but they restricted their role to ensure the smooth passage of VIPs participating in the rally only.
ANGANWADI WORKERS CREATE HUMAN CHAIN
At around 12noon, the road outside the district administrative complex was blocked by members of anganwadi workers. Hundreds of workers gathered outside the complex, blocked the area by creating a human chain.
The people, who had parked their vehicles outside different offices in the area, also remained stuck for almost an hour. The agitators were also seen in heated exchanges with people at some places as they tried to seek passage for their vehicles.
The whole area remained cordoned off till sub-divisional magistrate Neeraj Gupta came out to accept a memorandum from the agitators. The agitators also burnt effigies of prime minister Manmohan Singh and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to mark their protest.
The agitators were demanding revision of salaries, regularisation of their services and improvement of service conditions. Later in the day, the same space was occupied by over 200 volunteers working under the employment guarantee scheme (EGS), alternative and innovative education (AIE) and special trainer teachers (STR) schemes to mark the protest by creating human a chain as they were not allowed to join their duties in spite of getting joining letters.
They alleged that they were issued joining letters after a compromise with the state government in which the government agreed to bear the burden of the EGS and the AIE schemes.
BJP RALLY BLOCKS COMPANY BAGH ROAD
The area outside the Company Bagh was blocked and cordoned off for traffic by activists of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who organised a scooter rally to motivate the people for the Narendra Modi's Fateh rally at Jagraon.
From 3pm to 4pm, scooters, motorbikes and vehicles of dignitaries remained parked on the road blocking the normal flow of traffic. Nearly 50 scooters and motorcycles participated in the rally, led by state BJP chief Kamal Sharma and Jalandhar central MLA Manoranjan Kalia.
The rally, after passing through different markets, ended at the residence of Kalia. The route of the rally was cleared by the police to avoid any untoward incident. Talking to newsmen over the public convenience, Kamal Sharma said, "It is the enthusiasm of the party cadres who are determined to see Modi as the prime minister of India."