Teachers meet Ludhiana DC, submit memorandum over long-standing demands
Ludhiana: Representatives of teachers' unions met deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain and submitted a memorandum regarding persistent issues being faced by teachers of govt schools in the state.
The protest is being organised to highlight issues being faced by school teachers, both financial and departmental, which the state govt has allegedly failed to address despite repeated appeals.
Teacher leaders, representing various unions such as Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), ETT 6635 Union, 4161 Master Cadre Union, and 2392 Teachers Union, met the DC. They submitted a memorandum addressed to the Punjab chief minister, outlining a list of pending demands and informing the administration about the upcoming protest.
At the heart of their grievances is the job insecurity faced by thousands of teachers. Over 3,700 teachers from the Master Cadre and nearly 900 English teachers have been excluded from the final merit lists, placing their existing services and future at risk. Moreover, the issuance of show-cause notices regarding termination of services to these teachers has caused significant anxiety in the education community.
The unions are demanding that these notices be immediately revoked and that all affected teachers be granted job protection.
Similarly, educators promoted from ETT to Master Cadre and further to lecturer posts are calling for transparent, unbiased transfer policies, especially for special category teachers. They have demanded the immediate resumption of the 2025 general transfer process.
Speaking about the issue, Vikram Dev Singh, president, DTF, said the tardy promotion process leads to inconvenience to teachers.
Transfer policy is not followed for transfers. Transfers of teachers should be completed before the session starts, but it not done. Already delayed, this time of summer break is also a good time to begin the transfer process, so that teachers can reach the right schools by the time schools resume after summer break, however, generally, it is not being done and those with political approach rather get deputations they want, rather than following the proper channel.
Another major concern is the delay in promotions across all teaching and non-teaching cadres — from ETT to principals. Teachers are urging that all pending promotions be conducted promptly and fairly under the 75% promotion quota. They also demand that all vacant positions be openly declared before such promotions are finalised.
The protestors are also advocating for the regularisation of contractual and ad-hoc teachers, including computer teachers, merit-based appointees, associate teachers, and other temporary staff working under various schemes.
According to them, delays in issuing regularisation orders have led to discrimination and financial loss.
Teachers are also pushing for the restoration of the old pension scheme, rural and border area allowances, and the annual career progression (ACP) scheme, all of which they say have been unfairly withdrawn.
The warned that they would carry out protest on state-level protest June 11 unless their demands were met.
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