The Aam Aadmi Party is leaving no stone unturned to win the upcoming Punjab elections. As part of the campaigning for the polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal joined a teachers’ protest at Mohali and promised to regularise their jobs if his party comes to power in next year’s Punjab Assembly polls. During his visit to Mohali, Kejriwal backed the ongoing protests of the contractual teachers against the Punjab government. Arvind Kejriwal visited the protest site outside the Punjab School Education Board building, where temporary teachers have been protesting against for several months demanding regularisation of their jobs.
During the protests, Arvind Kejriwal was seen urging some teachers who have climbed to the top of a water tanker to climb down. He commented that while his govt is sending teachers to foreign countries for training, Punjab govt is sending teachers to the top of water tanks.
#WATCH | Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal urges a group of protesting contractual teachers, who climbed atop a water tanker, to climb down in Mohali, Punjab pic.twitter.com/IGc8Dcvlct
— ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2021
Kejriwal said, ‘I have come here to say that I am ashamed of the whole society and the system that today our teachers should sit at the top of water tanks in protest.’ He then asked the contractual teachers who were at the top of water tanks, ‘For how many days have you been protesting?’. To which the teachers replied that they were protesting for 47 days.
Then Kejriwal continued, ‘…I have come here to request you that you climb down because you have fever…come down and I promise you that after our government is formed, like how we solved the problems of all the teachers in Delhi, you have heard about Delhi right?…good education is happening in Delhi, which was not done by us but the teachers. We have put our trust in the teachers, we provided all the facilities to the teachers in the Schools…’
The Delhi CM further added that the Delhi government has sent teachers abroad for training and said, ‘In Delhi, we have sent teachers to England, Sweden and New Zealand and it is sad to know that here, the Punjab government sends teachers to the top of water tanks.’ He asked the protesting teachers to give one chance to the Aam Aadmi Party to form the government in Punjab. “You give one chance. If we do not do it, then you can throw us out next time,” he said.
“I came here today and I promise you that when our government comes, we will regularise you. But I want to assure you on this that I addressed issues of teachers in Delhi. Therefore, we will resolve issues in Punjab as well,” Arvind Kejriwal further added said.
The contractual teachers have claimed that the Punjab government have not listened to them for a long time and that they have been suffering from unemployment for the last 11 years. They want their services regularised as some of them have been working on contract since 2003.
