Amritsar September 13:
Expressing resentment over the State government's apathy towards their demands, hundreds of elementary teachers here staged a sit-in protest outside the residence of Panchayat Minister, Ranjeet Singh Brahmpura.
Seeking regularization of their jobs by the Punjab government, the teachers, belonging to the Elementary Training Teachers (ETT) Union, shouted slogans and criticised the government for not paying heed to their voice. However, police soon rounded up the protestors and took them along in a police van for disturbing the peace.
"We were staging a silent protest, but the police started pushing and shoving us and arrested us. In a democracy, everyone has the right to express themselves. But here our voices are being squashed. Now, the public will decide what should be done in this case," said Jaswinder Singh, a protesting teacher.
Police personnel, said that they had asked the teachers to end their protest peacefully but had to arrest them to prevent any untoward incident. With the minister refusing to give in to their demands, the teachers protest is likely to continue with government schools the first to feel the impact.
"This dragging and beating that the government has used to stop our protest, shows that this state government is worse than a dictatorship. As a reaction to this, all schools of Punjab will remain shut indefinitely from Monday till our demands are met," Singh added. Punjab Government put 12,000 teachers, recruited as service providers and resource persons, on regular rolls after a cabinet meeting held on September 7, agitating elementary school teachers.
Earlier, ETT teachers were brutally baton charged by police personnel when they put forth their demand of regularization in front of the State Education and Language Minister Upinderjit Kaur during 'Teachers Day' celebrations on September 5.
