All colleges of PCCTU district Jalandhar take out rally today

Jalandhar, November 16, 2021: Today, under the joint action plan of PFUCTO and PCCTU, all the colleges of Jalandhar Zilla Parishad of PCCTU took out a rally in Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall. This protest was organized by different Universities, Government Colleges and Aided Colleges in their respective areas of Punjab as per the guidelines of PFUCTO. In this rally, the teachers demanded the Punjab Government to pay the 7th Pay Commission as soon as possible in favor of their demands and revert the decision of delinking with the UGC by Punjab government. This protest was made jointly by professors of the colleges and the universities and the principal association.

On this occasion, Prof. Sukhdev Singh Randhawa, General Secretary PCCTU, in his address, while cursing the government for such poor management, said that leaving its obstinate behavior, the government should by giving evidence of futuristic thinking, make a valuable contribution in the spread of education by accepting the legitimate demands. Prof. Randhawa said that there is no dearth of resources with the government, higher education is going through a very bad condition due to bad thinking and bad policies of these governments. In the end, Prof. Randhawa said that if the government does not pay heed to the legitimate demands of the teachers, then in the coming days, all the teachers will also get the court arrest in Shri Chamkaur Sahib on November 23 in large number. 

Dr. Sanjeev Dhawan, District President, while addressing the teachers and criticizing the governments said that government have drowned the fleet of higher education in Punjab, due to which neither students are getting quality education nor teachers are getting respect. Almost all the colleges and universities of Punjab are going through financial crisis and 50% of the colleges are on the verge of closure. Attacking present Congress government, Dr. Sanjeev said that teachers from all over the country except Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh are being given UGC pay scales as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. Grades were not implemented due to lax attitude of Punjab Government. Teachers of Himachal and Chandigarh are also bearing the brunt as Himachal and Chandigarh apply grades only after grades are implemented in Punjab. Unfortunately, the Punjab government wants to separate the pay scales of teachers from the UGC pay scales in the state. It is pertinent to mention here that Punjab is a state in which even the teachers of government-aided colleges do not get pension. However, the pension and gratuity scheme in this regard was approved by the government and passed in the cabinet and the assembly.

Holding the governments responsible for the poor condition of the colleges, Dr Dhawan said that neither the grant was received on time nor the vacant posts were filled in the colleges. More than 50% vacancies are lying in the colleges and universities of Punjab. Colleges do not get any development grant. Even the post matric scholarship grant for scheduled caste students is not being fully received. The government is also not giving any help to the socially and economically backward students. This government has always been harming higher education on the pretext of lack of resources and money.

On this occasion, Dr SK Arora, Principal of DAV College, jalandharsupported the struggle of the teachers and expected the Punjab government to accept the demands of the teachers by giving initiative to the spread of education and fulfilling its moral responsibilities. .

District Secretary, Dr. SS Bains thanked all the members for their participation in the rally and also stressed on the need for the participation of all in the coming days to escalate the struggle on a faster and wider scale.