The members of several teachers’ and employees’ organisations on Thursday staged a protest at Banga Chowk here against the Education Department’s decision to terminate the services of 253 educators named under the 4161 recruitment process. The demonstrators burnt copies of the termination orders and sought their immediate withdrawal.
The protest was attended by members of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), 253 Affected Teachers’ Union, Democratic Pensioners’ Front, 4161 Master Cadre Union and Government Teachers’ Union.
The protest was led by DTF state joint secretary Mukesh Kumar, block president Vinay Kumar, Jarnail Singh, Manjit Banga, Balkar Singh Maghania and Harvinder Kaur of the 253 Affected Teachers’ Union, together with other leaders, including Chanda Rani, Sangeeta Rani, Balvir Khanpuri, Hans Raj Garhshankar, Satpal Kaler, Mandeep Kumar, 4161 Master Cadre Union state president Sandeep Gill, Bagga Singh, Simranjit Kaur, Naresh Kumar and Sham Sunder.
Addressing the gathering, the speakers stated the affected teachers had been serving in the Education Department for the past three-and-a-half years. They alleged that the termination orders had been issued following the cancellation of an answer key for the 4161 recruitment process, which had been prepared by expert professors from universities in compliance with the directions of the High Court.
Describing the decision as unjust, the union leaders said removing teachers who had been serving for years had put their professional future at risk. They urged the state administration and the Education Department to withdraw the termination notices and orders immediately and guarantee justice to all 253 affected educators.
