Chandigarh: Peeved at the Punjab government
for not heeding to their demands, teachers demanding permanent
jobs in the state on Tuesday threatened to immolate themselves
after one of their lady colleagues was allegedly slapped in
public view by an Akali Dal sarpanch.
A delegation of Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) teachers
association led by its chief Pritpal Singh on Tuesday went to the
private residence of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal
for what they called a meeting with him to resolve their
problem.
"We were not heard by Sukhbir...we have decided that 11
of our associates will do self-immolation on December 8,"
Singh said.
He said that the drastic step will be taken in front
Badal's residence in the posh sector nine of the city.
The EGS teachers association demanded immediate arrest of
the sarpanch. Besides, they also demanded that they should be
provided government jobs without further delay.
Singh alleged that the state government had been
arm-twisting EGS teachers and the woman who had been slapped
at a function in Muktsar district had been pressurised to take
back her statements she made before the media.
"The victim is constantly being threatened with dire
consequences," he alleged.
A leader of Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal had
allegedly repeatedly slapped a lady teacher, who was demanding
a permanent job on Sunday, sparking an outrage after which the
state government registered an FIR against him late Monday
night.
The lady Varinder Kaur was part of a delegation of
teachers who wanted to meet Bhatinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal,
the wife of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at the
function at Gidderbaha on Sunday.
A scuffle had broken out between the teachers'
delegation, which wanted to submit a memorandum to Harsimrat
Kaur demanding regularisation of their job, and Akali Dal
workers who wanted the delegation to leave the place.
Balwinder Singh, Akali Dal sarpanch of Daula village,
caught hold of Varinder Kaur and allegedly slapped her many
times.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 06, 2011, 13:22