Mohali, February 8 The Punjab Police on Sunday used a water cannon on several teachers who were protesting here over demands for regular appointment benefits, when they attempted to march towards the Chief Minister's residence in Chandigarh.
Under the banner of the Special Cadre Teachers Front, Punjab, the protesters had called for a "gherao" (surround) of the CM's residence.
However, a heavy police force was deployed at the Chandigarh-Mohali border to prevent them from proceeding towards Chandigarh. The police also erected barricades at the border.
As soon as the teachers, including female teachers, attempted to climb the barricades, the police used a water cannon against them.
A protesting teacher, Anubhav Gupta, claimed that one of the teachers sustained an injury to his hand.
The protesting teachers stated that over 12,000 temporary teachers were given appointment letters for regular jobs in 2023 by the AAP government.
However, they claimed that the benefits of these regular appointments have not yet been provided.
They demanded that the state government should implement the pay scale for the special cadre teachers and the service rules under the policy for the welfare of ad-hoc, contractual, and temporary teachers.
They also demanded the implementation of the old pension scheme, medical reimbursement, group insurance scheme, ex-gratia grant, gratuity, mobile allowance, child care leave, etc.
They also demanded that the service period for special cadre teachers be increased from 58 years to 65 years.