Ahead of Kejriwal’s visit to Punjab, protesters seeking physical training instructor jobs detained, released later

Senior Superintendent of Police (Mansa), Dr Nanak Singh, has arranged a meeting between the union and the government representatives at Punjab capital on September 18.

Highly placed police sources confirmed the detentions. “It was a pan-Punjab drive in which a few nuisance creators were detained as a precautionary measure. However, now talks have been held at the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) level in different districts, and the detained persons have been released,” said a senior police officer speaking on the condition of anonymity.

There were apprehensions that the union members who have been demanding jobs as physical training instructors (PTIs) in government schools planned to protest during the Delhi chief minister’s events in Punjab, and the police allegedly detained them to prevent them from doing this.

Gurlabh Singh, president of the 646-unemployed PTI union, released a video on social media from the office of Senior Superintendent of Police (Mansa), Dr Nanak Singh. “Several union members, including women, have been detained by Punjab Police across the state. This crackdown started at 4 am. Our union members who were to protest at Kejriwal’s rally in Amritsar have also been detained by the police,” he said.

“However, now SSP Nanak Singh has arranged a meeting between our union and government representatives such as Principal Secretary Ravi Bhagat, Education Minister Harjot Bains and other officials in Chandigarh on September 18. Hence, till September 18, we have postponed our protests in Punjab. Any further action will be taken only based on the outcome of the meeting. We want jobs for these 646 unemployed PTIs, and we will get our demands fulfilled, come what may,” he said in the 1-minute, 51-second video in which SSP Nanak Singh is also seen.

On Wednesday morning, the police reached the house of Gurlabh Singh in Mansa. Gurlabh went online through Facebook Live and showed the police personnel at his home. “Kejriwal hasn’t even come yet. But the Punjab Police have come to arrest us. He (Delhi CM) will come to Amritsar. I live in Mansa and still, the police are doing this,” he said.

Sippy Sharma, another union leader, based in Mansa was also allegedly taken away by police. “Sippy is the same person who had protested for job by climbing atop a water tank in Mohali ahead of the Punjab elections. Calling her as his sister, Arvind Kejriwal had announced then that 646 PTI posts would be filled and protesters would be given jobs if the AAP came to power. Now, the same AAP government arrests her before her so-called ‘brother’ visits Punjab. The AAP regime has failed to implement its promises,” said Raman Kumar, president of the overage unemployed union of Punjab. “Our union highly condemns this police action. This is not justified.”

In May 2011, the then SAD-BJP government had advertised posts of 646 PTIs, following which many aspirants applied. At that time, the recruitment of PTIs was based only on a merit list, and no written test was conducted. However, the merit list was never released as a petitioner challenged the recruitment in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

In July 2016, the high court had stayed the recruitment as teachers objected to the 200-mark written test requirement imposed by the government that year.

In November 2021, the high court had asked the government to start the recruitment process based on a merit list, but when the Congress government did not go ahead, Sippy and a few others climbed atop a water tank in Mohali to vent their anger. Kejriwal had then urged them to come down with a promise to give them jobs if the AAP was voted to power.

“However, afterwards, the AAP did nothing. In fact, it is not even allowing us to protest. Information revealed how the AAP has got these posts cancelled and stated it would issue a fresh recruitment process for PTIs as per requirement,” said Raman Kumar.

“The cut-off age for applying for government jobs is 37 years, and most of the protesters have already crossed that age as they have been struggling and protesting since 2011. It’s a betrayal of promises. The AAP had also promised to remove the cut-off age requirement if voted to power. When politicians can contest elections at any age after reaching 25 years, why should the people (job aspirants) have this condition imposed on them? But now the AAP is also silent on this promise,” said Raman Kumar.

Krishan Kumar and Lafz Deep are other union leaders who were allegedly detained.