TARN TARAN: In protest against the Punjab government withholding the salaries of teachers and other employees of these schools for eight months, thousands of working and retired employees will court arrest in Tarn Taran Sahib on November 7, and all preparations in this regard have been completed.
This information was given by the state president of the union, Gurmeet Singh Madnipur, general secretary Sharanjit Singh Kadimajra, president of the Pensioners Association, Gurcharan Singh Chahal, and president of the School Management Association, Chawla. On this occasion, through a press release, these leaders have asked 10 serious questions to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and said that these two leaders should tell the public why the salaries of teachers and other employees of aided schools have been withheld for eight months. They asked about the fault of the aided school employees and said,
Is this the fault of these thousands of employees that:-
1) Is it their fault that these teachers of aided schools have been teaching diligently despite not receiving salaries for eight months?
2) Is it their fault that these teachers have been continuously imparting good values to the students along with education?
3) Is it their fault that these teachers teach patriotism to the students? These are the same schools that have given the country freedom fighters like Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, and Shaheed Udham Singh.
4) Is it their fault that these teachers have been producing international-level players for the country? Who have not only produced rulers, high-ranking administrators, but also international players, judges, and nation builders.
5) Is it their fault that these teachers have been producing honest national-level leaders for the country through their teaching? Former Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Union Minister Jagannath Kaushal, and the current Finance Minister of the Punjab government, Mr. Cheema, and Health Minister Dr. Balbir Singh are also products of these aided schools.
6) Is it a fault that these teachers have been continuously teaching 250, 000 children in their schools despite not receiving their salaries, thus easing the burden of the government's responsibility to provide education?
7) Is it a fault that most of these schools have been running since before the country's independence and still preserve the history and culture of our nation?
8) Is it a fault that these teachers are true custodians of the Beti Padhao-Beti Bachao campaign and are making an invaluable contribution in educating and supporting more than eighty thousand girls in Punjab?
9) Is it the fault of the management committees of these schools that they are not only managing with the remaining 1700 teachers and other employees out of the 9468 posts sanctioned by the government in 1967, but are also providing employment to approximately 10, 000 people by soliciting donations and collecting contributions?
10) Is it the fault of the management committees managing these aided schools that they are constructing and maintaining the buildings of these schools, running computer and science laboratories, and bearing the electricity bills and many other expenses themselves without any government assistance?
These leaders also said that, Their questions are not only for the Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, or Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, or Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, but also for Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, the patrons of the state government claiming a so-called education revolution in Punjab: