Water cannons used against protesting special cadre teachers; three injured

During the police action, three teachers — Harpreet Kaur, Najar Singh, and Davinder Singh — were injured due to the impact of the water cannon, with Davinder Singh reportedly suffering more severe injuries. It was alleged that no ambulance was present at the site, and after waiting for nearly 10 to 15 minutes, DSP Har Simran Singh Bal shifted the injured teacher to Phase-6 Hospital in a police van. After receiving preliminary medical treatment, he was discharged in the evening.

Union leaders, including Davinder Singh Sandhu, Veerpal Kaur Sidhana, Manpreet Singh (Moga), Harpreet Kaur (Jalandhar), Gurlal Singh, and Anubhav Gupta, stated that the government later accepted their memorandum of demands. The teachers are seeking implementation of pay scale for 12,710 Special Cadre Teachers under the “Policy for Welfare of Adhoc, Contractual, Temporary Teachers (Nation Builder),” upgradation of IEAT teachers from Group-D to Group-C, and enforcement of proper service rules, including TA, Old Pension Scheme, medical reimbursement, group insurance scheme, ex-gratia grant, gratuity, promotion channel, 10% EPF deduction with 14% government contribution, mobile allowance, child care leave, earned leave, paid maternity leave for a third child, and issuance of IHRMS Code. They have also demanded that the retirement age of Special Cadre Teachers be increased from 58 to 65 years on the lines of the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and that the remaining ad-hoc teachers be issued regular appointment letters at the earliest.

The union said that they have been given time for a meeting with the Education Minister on March 6, followed by another meeting on March 10 with a sub-committee headed by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema. The teachers expressed hope that the government will soon take a positive decision to resolve their long-pending demands.