PHAGWARA: Thousands of teachers, employees, and pensioners from Punjab’s 484 government-aided schools will hold a massive protest rally at Gandhi Park, Railway Road, Tarn Taran, on November 1. The demonstration will highlight the state government’s failure to release salaries and grants pending for several months.
Providing details, Monika Sharma, District President of the Aided Schools Employees Union, Kapurthala, and Balwinder Kaur, District Secretary, said the rally will be followed by a protest march to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) office. They said the rally aims to press the Punjab government to withdraw its “anti-aided school” policies and immediately release the withheld grants.
According to the union leaders, the Punjab Finance Department has failed to release the grants for seven months, leaving thousands of aided school employees in financial distress. In Kapurthala district, some C&V staff have not been paid for 19 months, while others await salaries for the past nine months. Despite repeated meetings with ministers and departmental officials, no concrete action has been taken.
The leaders alleged that under the pretext of audit objections, the Finance Department has withheld the grants that have been regularly issued under the Grant-in-Aid Scheme since 1967. “This arbitrary suspension of grants since April 2025 has pushed thousands of employees and pensioners to the brink of starvation, ” said Monika Sharma.
They further stated that the “inhuman treatment” meted out to aided school staff by the Chief Minister, Finance Minister, Education Minister, and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal has caused widespread resentment among about 1, 700 teachers and 6, 000 pensioner families across Punjab.
Union representatives added that in this deteriorating financial situation, the employees have no option left but to take to the streets to expose the government’s “false claims of an education revolution” and its alleged plan to shut down aided schools, thereby rendering thousands jobless.
All senior union leaders have officially notified the Punjab government and administration that thousands of aided school teachers, employees, pensioners, and senior citizens will gather at Gandhi Park, Tarn Taran, at 10:30 a.m. on November 1, for the protest rally and subsequent march to the AAP office.
“Employees from Kapurthala district, along with their retired colleagues, will fully participate in the November 1 protest at Tarn Taran, ” said Monika Sharma and Balwinder Kaur. “The Punjab government and administration will be solely responsible for any consequences arising from this struggle, ” they warned.