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Journalism of Courage
Traffic was thrown out of gear in Panchkula and Chandigarh for at least five hours on Thursday morning as hundreds of Haryana lecturers blocked roads leading to the Housing Board light point, which is the main crossing between the two cities. The lecturers, affiliated to the All Haryana Extension Lecturers Association, were trying to enter Chandigarh in order to march to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, which was meeting on Thursday for the final day of its budget session.
Even internal roads of Panchkula sectors were thick with traffic as motorists tried to squeeze through the jam. Traffic was at a standstill even on alternate routes between Chandigarh and Panchkula, including the new link road between Hallomajra light point and Phase-1 Industrial Area, Panchkula, and the Mansa Devi Road, past the Command Hospital on the Kalka-Chandigarh highway,
On Wednesday, too, the lecturers had protested at the Housing Board light point but were dispersed by the use of water cannons, but had returned later, and to squat on the roads over night.
A Haryana police officer, deployed at the Housing Board light point, said, “During the earlier protests, we used to block one side of the road and allowed vehicles to ply on the other side. But these lecturers sat on dharna on Wednesday night on both sides of the roads at Sector 7 and Sector 18, forcing us to barricade the entire road.”
Since March 5, the first day of the budget session of the Haryana Assembly, it has been raining protests in Panchkula, with the protesters trying to march to the Vidhan Sabha and getting stopped at the entry point to Chandigarh, resulting in chaos. The first in the series of protests was when thousands of members of two unions, including Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union, tried to enter Chandigarh to gherao the Haryana Vidhan Sabha but were stopped at the Housing Board light point.
SKSH general secretary Subhash Lamba said: “We have informed the state government about our protests well in advance, giving them the opportunity to talk with us. And, since we did not get any reply, we were forced to hold rallies and protests. “
Thursday’s protest ended after Bhupeshwar Dayal, the OSD to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, assured the delegation of lecturers of fulfilling their demands and constituted a four-member committee to formulate a policy for the lecturers.
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