Temporary teachers continue protest after talks fail with Punjab government

Hundreds of temporary teachers restarted their protest to demand job regularisation on Thursday after talks with the Punjab government broke down.

The teachers, some of who had climbed atop the building of Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) with petrol bottles on Wednesday, with at least one protester consuming sulphas tablets in order to try and kill herself, vowed to continue their protest till their demands are met.

The president of the protesting unions, Ajmer Singh Aulakh said that they had held a meeting with Punjab Education Minister OP Soni, and state Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Captain Sandeep Sandhu, but the meeting failed to make any breakthrough.

On Thursday, the meeting started at around 12.30pm and saw the presence of state Panchayat Minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa along with education department secretary Krishan Kumar.

The meeting ended at around 3pm, with the teachers later stating that they will not settle for anything less than regularisation of their services.

“The government did not listen to our demands seriously. The teachers want their jobs to be regularised. They, at present, are working on meager salaries,” Aulakh said.

The teachers’ union leader added that they shall continue to hold protests in front of the education department’s building till their demands are met.

Meanwhile, a woman teacher, Rajwinder Singh, who had swallowed sulphas tablets on Wednesday to try and kill herself over the issue, was discharged from the hospital and joined the protest again on Thursday.