Punjab: Protests erupt across the state over the deaths of teachers.

Punjab: Teachers’ unions and farmers’ organizations staged protests outside the Deputy Commissioner’s offices in Moga, Faridkot, and other districts on Tuesday. They were demanding justice for a teacher couple who died in a road accident on December 14, the same day voting was held for the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections in the state. The accident occurred on Sunday morning when Jaswinder Singh Bhullar (47) and his wife Kamaljit Kaur (46) were traveling to Sangatpura village in Moga. Kamaljit Kaur had been assigned election duty for the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections. Her husband was driving her to her polling station.
The unions linked the deaths to the DC’s orders, which mandated filing cases against teachers who were absent from election duty. Various teachers’ unions, along with farmers’ organizations, launched a sit-in protest outside the DC’s office, holding the government and the district administration responsible for the alleged negligence. The protesters demanded that the government take full responsibility for the education of the couple’s son and daughter, provide them with government jobs after the completion of their studies, and give the family a compensation of Rs 4 crore. Digvijay Pal Sharma, president of the State Democratic Teachers Front, said the accident was a result of administrative negligence. He said the couple has two young children who have been left without anyone to care for them. He added that if the government does not accept their demands, the protests will continue indefinitely.
‘Two more teachers injured’
The protests, which involved 15 teachers’ unions across Punjab, also highlighted that two more teachers – both women from Patiala district – were injured in separate accidents while on their way to election duty. Rajveer Kaur, an associate teacher posted at a government school in Sunam, met with an accident while on her way to election duty in Munak. She is currently admitted to a private hospital. Another associate teacher, Paramjit Kaur from Patran, was also injured while on election duty. She has since been discharged from a private hospital in Patiala. The unions demanded that in the future, teachers’ election duty assignments should be given near their place of residence or workplace.