Protesting teacher sets herself on fire

Kiranjeet,along with other teachers under the aegis of the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) Teachers Union,had been protesting for a long time demanding degrees under the ETT after admission in the course. All these teachers have taught children up to Class VIII under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme in slums and remote areas of the state for over five years.

Intensifying their protest on Sunday,five teachers climbed atop the water tank around 2 pm,even as another group went towards the ministers residence to stage a demonstration. While the police stopped this group on the way,the five climbed the water tank without any disruption.

All five were carrying kerosene. After reaching the top of the water tank,they started threatening that they would set themselves on fire if their demands were not met, said an eyewitness,claiming that Deputy Superintendent of Police Bahadur Singh was also present but dismissed their threats as drama.

The protestors alleged that the police officers undesirable comments provoked Kiranjeet to take the extreme step. After she had poured kerosene on herself and set herself on fire,Kiranjeet apparently started rushing down, but by then she had sustained serious burns. She was rushed to the Civil Hospital,from where she was referred to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana. As the news spread,an angry mob rushed towards the Education Ministers residence,threatening to set it on fire. The police had a tough time controlling them.

With her at the Ludhiana hospital,Kiranjeets father said he had gone to Kapurthala to bring her back after the protest and was shocked to know she had set herself afire.

Breaking down,he said: Kiranjeet always had that fire to shoulder the familys responsibilities,and I guess she took it too much to her heart and took this extreme step. She did B.Ed. after graduation to get the job of a teacher. We were looking for a suitable match for her. But chances of her survival,doctors say,are very slim.

While Kiranjeets younger brother is doing M.Sc. in Agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU),Ludhiana,the elder one is an undergraduate and unemployed.

Four teachers were still on the water tank till the filing of this report. Their names were said to be Jyoti of Kapurthala,Kirandeep of Moga,Manjeet of Jaiton and Simarjit Singh of Mansa,who is a senior leader of the union. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kuldeep Singh climbed atop the tank to persuade them,but failed to convince the teachers to come down.

Senior Superintendent of Police Ram Singh and Deputy Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary were also trying to convince them to come down,assuring that the government would listen to their demands. Police have spread a net around the water tank to prevent any casualties.

President of the Jalandhar unit of EGS Union Jarnail Singh has demanded that DSP Bahadar Singh be dismissed and booked for abetment to suicide. The DSP refused to speak.

According to teachers,there are 2,700 EGS teachers in Punjab who taught for five years under the SSA but the government later started expelling them.