Jalandhar: Following fatal accidents involving teachers during election duty, the union has demanded justice.

Jalandhar: Teacher unions across Punjab have intensified their protests against the state government and the State Election Commission following the deaths and injuries of several teachers deployed on duty for the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections. After holding demonstrations at the district level, the protesting teachers recently staged a symbolic effigy burning and submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the Phagwara ADC, demanding accountability, compensation, and improvements in the system of election duty allocation. The protests began after a tragic incident on December 14 in Moga district, where a teacher couple, Jaskaran Singh Bhullar and Kamaljit Kaur, lost their lives when their car fell into a water canal while they were on their way to election duty early in the morning. Similar incidents were reported from other parts of the state, including Moonak in Sangrur district, where associate teacher Rajveer Kaur was seriously injured when her vehicle fell into a canal, and Patran in Patiala district, where teacher Paramjit Kaur met with an accident.
Teacher organizations alleged that these incidents were caused by administrative negligence, unsafe duty assignments, and long-distance travel in adverse weather conditions. Addressing the protests, various teacher union leaders, including Satwant Tura, Satnam Singh Randhawa, and Varinder Kamboj, strongly criticized the Punjab government and the Election Commission for what they termed the “arbitrary and insensitive” deployment of teaching staff. They argued that repeated requests for safer and more humane duty arrangements had been ignored, ultimately putting teachers’ lives at risk. The union leaders asserted that these were not mere accidents but avoidable tragedies caused by administrative failure. The teachers demanded a compensation of Rs 2 crore each for the children of the deceased teachers, immediate financial assistance for their education, and reservation in government jobs for them in the future. For the injured teachers, the unions demanded a compensation of Rs 20 lakh per case, complete medical treatment at government expense, and recognition of the recovery period as on-duty service.
Additional demands included the withdrawal of FIRs registered against teachers during election duty, exemption for women with young children and teachers suffering from serious illnesses, and an end to the practice of assigning election duty far from teachers’ residences or workplaces. The unions also objected to the “double burden” placed on teachers through Booth Level Officer (BLO) duties and other non-academic responsibilities, and demanded that such duties be discontinued as per the government’s pre-election assurances. Concerns were also raised about the early morning reporting times and long-distance travel in dense fog during vote counting, which the protesters termed a serious threat to the safety of the employees. Following the protest, effigies of the Punjab government and the State Election Commission were burned as a mark of protest. A memorandum containing the demands was handed over to the administration to be forwarded to the Chief Minister through Phagwara Additional Deputy Commissioner Shikha Bhagat. The teachers’ leaders warned that if justice was not delivered to the affected families and injured teachers soon, the agitation would be intensified in the coming days.
Protest in Hoshiarpur
In Hoshiarpur too, the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), Punjab, staged a strong protest outside the district administrative complex here on Wednesday against the alleged mismanagement during the District Council and Block Samiti election duties, which, they said, led to serious accidents involving teachers. After staging a dharna, the DTF leaders burned an effigy of the Punjab government and the State Election Commission and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister. Addressing the protesters, DTF state joint secretary Mukesh Kumar, district president Sukhdev Dansiwal, general secretary Inder Sukhdeep Singh Odhra, press secretary Baljit Singh Mahimowal, joint secretary Praveen Sherpur, and Punjab Employees and Pensioners Sanjha Morcha leader Satish Rana alleged that the negligence of the Election Commission and the administration had led to life-threatening incidents involving teachers deployed on election duty.