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Day of protests in Patiala, cops on toes
It was a day of protests in Patiala, as city residents witnessed three major protests on Monday, putting the district police on its toes.
It was a day of protests in Patiala, as city residents witnessed three major protests on Monday, putting the district police on its toes.
Various protests were held across the city at the same time at around 11 in the morning, as all the governmental offices were opened after two consecutive weekend holidays.
Kisan cell of Congress party led by president Inderjit Singh Zira staged a protest in front of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) office’s gate, alleging high rates for power connections being distributed among poor farmers.
Meanwhile, traffic on the Mall Road was disrupted as protesters gathered near the Sheran Wala chowk and blocked the road.
Zira alleged that the government had announced thousands of power connections in 2.5-acre and 5-acre land scheme and asked the farmers to submit around Rs 1 lakh to 2 lakh. He added, “It is the cost of issuing connection only and they will have to spend a lot more for installing it at their farms.”
He alleged that the Badal government was duping the farmers in the name of power connections. “The farmers are paying a lot more than the estimated cost of connection due to the corruption in the electricity department,” he said.
Another Congress leader Kuldeep Singh Nassupur alleged that agriculture was at its lowest mark. “How could a farmer owning 2.5-acre land manage Rs 2 to 3 lakh rupees for a power connection for the irrigation of his fields? He added that there is also an acute shortage of staff in the department and the employees at ground level are charging illegal installation charges with corrupt means,” he said.
The protesters also submitted a memorandum regarding their demands to the PSPCL management and urged the government to ensure proper availability of power connection to every eligible farmer in the state.
EDUCATION PROVIDER TEACHERS’ BODY STAGES DHARNA
Meanwhile, education provider teachers’ union staged a dharna in front of the district education officer’s office at around 10 in the morning. It was a state-wide protest call given by the union to meet their demands. The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and also burnt the effigy of the government.
Aam Admi Party (AAP) also extended their support to the protesters and various local leaders, along with Dr Balbir Singh, joined the protesters.
Addressing to the gathering, Hardeep Singh Sarala, union district president, said they were serving the education department since last the 10 years, but the government was not sincere to increasing their salary.
He added that the police had also registered some false cases against the union leaders while they were protesting peacefully at Mohali. He urged the government to provide them permanent jobs and also quash the cases registered against the union members.
Sarala and other members demanded that the government should pay them regular pay scale instead of the present Rs 7,000 salary.
ONE-DAY HUNGER STRIKE BY TEACHERS OUTSIDE DC OFFICE
Teachers working under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (SSARMSA) held a one-day hunger strike outside DC office.
Protesting teachers -Nawaldeep Sharma, Nancy Bhatia, Snehdeep, Manoj Kumar, Avnesh Kumar and Bharat Kumar -- sat on hunger strike for the whole day.
District president Atinder Pal Ghagga and state vice-president Hardeep Singh Toderpur said around 12,000 teachers recruited under the centresponsored schemes have been working in the Punjab government schools for the past eight years on the contract basis. Besides that teachers under SSA/RMSA and lab attendants under RMSA have not got salaries for the last three, seven and 15 months, respectively.
“The high power committee constituted to frame a project report regarding regularisation of contractual teachers has not submitted or made public its report after a period of one year. In addition, teachers have been implicated in false police cases during agitation demanding their just and constitutional demands,” Atinder Pal Ghagga said.
State vice-president Hardeep Singh Toderpur added that the teachers’ union is determined to get the teachers job regularised in the education department for which a state-level rally would be held on July17 in Ropar. “A large number of teachers will participate in that rally from Patiala district,” he said.