On May 8, a protesting group of Physical Training Instructor job aspirants who are yet to be employed got into a scuffle with the Punjab Police outside the residence of Education Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer in Barnala, Punjab. The Police used lathi-charge to disperse the protesters.
The aspirants were holding a protest against the state government, demanding the recruitment of around 2,000 PTIs. The posts were announced by the previous Congress government in December 2021. Notably, Hayer used to sit on protests with these teachers before getting elected in the Punjab State Assembly Elections.
Punjab police lathicharged on unemployed PTI teachers in Barnala .
— PM Sai Prasad?? (@pm_saiprasad) May 9, 2022
Before elections, Kejriwal went to meet teachers who climbed up on a tank protesting against Channi govt.
Govt changed but sadly the condition of teachers didn’t! pic.twitter.com/7aYjiCAkDN
The scuffle between the protesters and the Punjab Police started when the protesters attempted to break the barricades that were placed in front of the minister’s house. The PTIs tried to gherao the minister’s house, but Punjab Police stopped them. Some of the protesters were detained by the Police, but they were released later.
Amandeep Kamboj, President of the New Unemployed PTI Teachers’ Union, said in a statement, “The Congress government in December 2021 advertised 2,000 posts of PTI teachers and 5,994 of ETT teachers, but the recruitment didn’t start. But now, the AAP government has started the recruitment process for ETT teachers. The government should also start hiring 2,000 PTIs.”
PTI Teachers’ Union Punjab’s district President Baljinder Singh Fatehpur said, “Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer used to join our protests before becoming a minister. He would sit with us on water tanks during protests. He had promised us that our demands would be fulfilled once his party formed government in the state. Now he is not giving us time, and he has changed his number as well.”
General Secretary of the Union Parminder Ghuman alleged that the Punjab Police brutally assaulted them. “They removed ‘chunni’ of the female teachers. Pagdi of the male teachers was removed by the Police. Several female teachers fell unconscious. Many teachers were arrested by the Police. We are not going to tolerate such action. Wherever Heyar would go, we will follow him.”
Women teachers fell unconscious
Hindi Daily Amar Ujala reported that during the scuffle, several female teachers fell unconscious. Their colleagues helped them and helped them get to safety.
