Patiala, March 9, 2020 –
Protesting unemployed teachers in Punjab staged a sit-in protest on a bridge near here on Monday and threatened to jump into the Bhakra canal if their demand of a government job is not met, police said.
Two out of a batch of nearly 20 protesters jumped into the Bhakra canal a day earlier. They were fished out by divers deployed by the police.
In another protest, their fellow unemployed teachers have been staging a sit-in demonstration since Sunday in Patiala town, the hometown of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, and have been demanding a meeting with him for an assurance of job.
Officials said their union was assured of a meeting with the Chief Minister on March 12 but the protesters were adamant on meeting him at an early date.
Officials said there are 16,000 unemployed teachers in the state. They have asking the government that why it advertised just 1,600 posts last week when there are about 12,000 posts vacant in the Education Department.
They said they would keep protesting until their demands were accepted.
A day earlier, high drama was witnessed on the outskirts of Patiala when two teachers jumped into the canal from a bridge located on the Patiala-Bathinda National Highway.
Nearly half a dozen protesters, comprising women, were injured after being baton-charged by the police here on Sunday.
Several women protesters, who were injured, claimed that the police “attacked” them without a provocation and pulled them by their hair.
A few policemen were among those injured as they tried to disperse the protesters who wanted to surround the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s private residence here.
The protesters, belonging to ETT-TET Unemployed Teachers’ Union, were protesting against the failure of the government to provide them jobs in the Education Department.
The protesters have cleared the Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) and qualified the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).
For several months, they have staged a sit-in protest outside the residence of Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla in Sangrur town, demanding jobs. (Agency)
