On 13th of September, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab refuted the allegations raised against Bhagwant Mann-led govt that teachers from at least five districts were assigned duties as ‘bus-in-charges’ and ‘nodal officers’ to assist AAP workers coming to attend inauguration of a school. However, Indian Express’ investigation into the matter told a different story. The report suggests that the teachers were not only assigned duties as bus-in-charge but were also told to serve refreshments to the AAP workers.
🚨Fake News Alert🚨
— AAP Punjab (@AAPPunjab) September 13, 2023
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 1st #SchoolOfEminence
It is the first time in Punjab that a party is committed to fulfilling… pic.twitter.com/P9MB7YlvlA
As per the report, the teachers felt insulted and disrespected as the government denied they were assigned duties to ferry AAP workers. Reportedly, the District Education Officer (DEO) assigned these duties to the teachers. They had to travel to the destination along the “public” (read AAP workers) in state-owned PRTC busses. Around 300 teachers were given duties from different districts to ferry AAP workers. Notably, the teachers were diverted to duties at a “political event” at a time when state-run schools were conducting exams. There were strict orders from the education department that no teacher would go on leave to ensure students prepared properly for the exam. However, the school inauguration took the teachers in a different direction.
Teachers ferrying AAP workers to Amritsar in PRTC buses for Kejriwal’s event. It was also teacher’s duty to ensure these publicity banners were in place 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/5EkJHyxrBt
— Divya Goyal (@divya5521) September 13, 2023
A teacher told Indian Express, “On one hand, Mann saab (CM) says that teachers won’t do any other work other than teaching, and on the other hand, we are being asked to accompany party workers that too during exams. We aren’t even sure what our mandate is for tomorrow’s visit. It is nothing more than a show of strength.”
The teachers started reaching the locations assigned to them at around 7 AM. Not only did they have to ensure AAP workers reached the event comfortably, but they also had to arrange a “publicity banner” that contained a photo of CM Mann and paste it on the bus. Furthermore, District Education Officers “ordered” the principals not to give any relaxation to the teachers from the duty. Bathinda DEO added more responsibility for the teachers and asked them to coordinate with the conductor and driver of the buses, the Indian Express report stated.
In a statement, one of the teachers, Manjinder Singh, 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 the bus leaves for Amritsar on time. I reached the starting point around 8 AM, tied the publicity banner on the bus, and distributed food packets that the food department had arranged. It was an order, so we had to go; otherwise, teachers had no role in the entire exercise. We don’t deserve this.”
DEO Barnala Shamsher Singh was assigned the duty of nodal officer. He said, “I travelled with 18 other teachers from my district, and we were asked to ensure that party workers who were on the bus faced no issues. We had to ensure that they got refreshments/breakfast in time.”
District president of Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) in Barnala, Rajiv Kumar, said they protested against the orders issued by the DEO assigning duties in a political event. He said the teachers were shocked to see DEO himself travelling with them. DEO informed the teacher the orders came from the deputy commissioner.
DTF Punjab spokesperson launched an attack on CM Mann and said, “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, leading to strong teacher opposition. 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, and spent the entire day for a political event, and the AAP government now claims they were never given any such duty. It was an official duty, a government order, not an invitation.”
Ludhiana DEO Dimple Madaan said the education department organised the event, hence, the teachers were assigned duties. She said if not for teachers, who would have done the duties as the event was conducted by the education department. “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 them had to coordinate everything,” she added.
