Punjab warns protesting teachers

CHANDIGARH - The Punjab government Monday appealed to the protesting teachers of a training programme to resume their duties and warned that those who do not immediately do so would be marked absent, an official said.

Declaring the ongoing week-long agitation of elementary teachers training (ETT) programme as “illegal and irrational”, the government spokesperson assailed the adamant attitude of the ETT teachers and their leaders.

The ETT teachers are seeking shifting their services from the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) to the state’s education department.

In the last one week, nearly 200 ETT teachers, including women, were arrested by the Punjab police for carrying out protests at various places.

The spokesman said that the demands were unjustified and their protests have affected the studies of thousands of students in rural areas.

“Any attempt to disturb the existing framework would not only be detrimental to the process of rural development but also against the basic spirit of the Constitution,” he added.

He disclosed that 13,034 ETT teachers working in 5,752 schools had already been granted all benefits at par with other government school teachers in terms of the payment of dearness allowance (DA), annual increment, opening of Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) account, clearance of probation periods and regular payment of salaries.