Punjab Police baton-charge teachers protesting outside CM's residence demanding jobs

Teachers demanding employment were baton-charged by the police outside the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Due to lack of employment opportunities, teachers qualified with the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) and Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) were staging a protest. One teacher said while talking to ANI, “We came to protest peacefully outside the residence of the Chief Minister of Punjab, but we were lathi-charged by the police."

Sarabjit, a qualified teacher and a member of the union of BEd TET-pass said, "For the last 4 years, our issues are not being heard. The Chief Minister is not paying any heed to our demands. We are demanding posting in schools." She further explained, "There are so many BEd TET-pass students who are jobless because vacancy for only 10-12 posts is advertised by the government. Are there no SSC posts left in schools? Are there no posts for Hindi and Punjabi teachers in schools? We demand that the government issue a statement on the total number of posts." She continued to explain their troubles, "We have children and a family to run. How will we manage to survive? Today, despite being educated, our survival has become unpredictable because we have no jobs. There are several BEd TET qualified teachers like us who remain unemployed."

Hostile relations between the Punjab Government and the teachers of the state

Earlier in June, teachers protested in Punjab demanding regularisation of jobs and a raise in the salary. Punjab had been hiring teachers on a temporary basis without giving them any guarantee of a permanent position. Hundreds of teachers started protesting outside the Punjab School Education Board and some of the teachers reached the rooftop of the office building with petrol-filled bottles or poisonous substances, threatening with suicide unless their demands were met. Only after the deployment of the police force outside the multi-storeyed building did the protestors allowed the staff inside the building to come out and go back home. Before this, the teachers did not allow anyone to leave the building till their demands were met. The teachers were also shouting slogans against the state government. 

(With ANI inputs)