Teachers from at least five districts in Punjab were assigned duties as “bus in-charges” and “nodal officers” to ferry AAP workers from each assembly segment to “Sikhiya Kranti Rally” in Amritsar.
A day after The Indian Express report highlighted how teachers from at least five districts in Punjab were assigned duties as “bus in-charges” and “nodal officers” to ferry AAP workers from each assembly segment in state-owned Punjab Roadways and PRTC buses to “Sikhiya Kranti Rally” held in Amritsar, teachers who were on duty on Wednesday said they reached locations assigned to them, some as early as 7 am, and also coordinated with local party in-charges who were appointed by AAP MLAs.
The orders issued by Ludhiana district education officer (DEO) stated that 130 teachers from the district not only had to travel along “public” from each assembly segment in buses but also had to arrange “publicity banner” (which had photo of CM Bhagwant Mann) and display it on the bus, and principals were also ordered to ensure that “no teacher is given any relaxation from the duty.” The orders issued in Bathinda stated that teachers were appointed as “bus in-charges” who also had to coordinate with the food department and ensure that rally attendees were served refreshments and food packets in time. The Bathinda order also had a list of PRTC drivers and conductors with whom teachers were asked to coordinate to avoid any inconvenience for rally attendees.
The rally was addressed by AAP national Convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in Amritsar, Wednesday.
However, Punjab AAP also took to X (formerly Twitter) and claimed, “No such orders have been issued. No teacher has been appointed as a bus in-charge. Rather, teachers have been invited to attend the grand inauguration ceremony of our first School Of Eminence…”
Manjinder Singh, a teacher who was on duty, said: “The people with whom we had to travel were mostly AAP workers and were already arranged by local MLA and his team. We were told that our duty was to ensure that the bus leaves for Amritsar in time. I reached the starting point around 8 am and tied the publicity banner on the bus and distributed food packets that were arranged by the food department. It was an order so we had to go otherwise teachers had no role in the entire exercise. We don’t deserve this.”
Shamsher Singh, district education officer (DEO), Barnala, who was on duty as “nodal officer”, said: “I travelled with 18 other teachers ers from my district and we were asked to ensure that party workers who were in the bus faced no issues. We had to ensure that they got refreshments/breakfast in time.”
Rajiv Kumar, district president of Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) in Barnala, said that they protested against the duties assigned for political event late on Tuesday but were told by the DEO that it was done on the orders of deputy commissioner. “In the morning around 6 am, we were shocked to see that our DEO was himself ready to travel with teachers who were on duty,” he added.
Pawan Kumar, spokesperson of DTF Punjab, said that just to gain political mileage and put up a show of strength, teachers were given duties that had nothing to do with them. “On Teacher’s Day, tall claims were made by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann that teachers will only teach but the reverse is happening. Teachers were first called to meetings by DEOs by issuing official orders and then directed to travel to Amritsar with AAP workers. Teachers were appointed as “bus in-charge” and even told to serve refreshments. The first such order to serve refreshments came in Bathinda which led to strong opposition from teachers. Then they were told that they just had to coordinate. Each assembly segment was given a quota of PRTC buses which the local MLA had to fill and at least 750 state-owned buses in the state were engaged to ferry workers to the rally. It is a further insult and disrespect to teachers to claim that they never went on duty. They reached there early in the morning, spent the entire day for a political event and the AAP government is now claiming that they were never given any such duty. It was an official duty, a government order, not an invitation.”
Dharamjit Singh, Ludhiana district president of Lecturer Cadre Union, said: “About 130 lecturers from Ludhiana had gone on duty to Amritsar. Teachers were not even aware of the schedule and what exactly they had to do. They were told to gather and accompany people to the rally and one teacher was assigned one bus. It is probably for the first time that we were told to arrange a gathering for a political programme that took place outside the district. We not only have official letters but also photos of teachers on duty.”
Vikram Dev, state president of DTF, said: “Instead of denying, the AAP government needs to investigate how and by whom such orders were passed. CM Mann says that teachers won’t do any other work but no official notification in this regard has been issued. Teachers were asked to prepare political publicity banners and even keep their bills for reimbursement later. How can DCs impose any order without keeping the government in loop? DCs were ordered to make arrangements and fill buses for the rally and this further trickled down to teachers.”
Dimple Madaan, Ludhiana district education officer (secondary), who had issued orders, said that since it was the programme of the education department, teachers were put on duty and given works such as installing publicity banners on buses. “It was a programme of the education department and who else would have done these if not teachers?” Madaan asked. She said that “people” whom teachers ferried in buses were “invitees” who were “invited” to attend School of Eminence inauguration. “The education department had invited people from all 14 assembly segments of Ludhiana to attend the inauguration. They were taken in buses to Amritsar and teachers who accompanied had to coordinate everything,” she added.
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SOURCE: -THE INDAIN EXPRESS
