Stopped from reaching CM’s event in Fazilka: Contract teachers

Bathinda: Contract teachers on Sunday alleged that the Punjab govt prevented them from reaching Jalalabad in Fazilka district to meet chief minister Bhagwant Mann during his visit, claiming some were stopped at schools while others were confined to their homes.A teacher posted at a government school in Rania village of Moga district said he was stopped from leaving the premises while supervising an exam under the New India Literacy Programme (NILP), a centrally sponsored scheme aimed at educating non-literates who missed formal schooling.Contract Teachers' Union state president Jaspal Singh was allegedly put under house arrest at his residence in Mallan village, Muktsar. Speaking to TOI, he said members had planned to meet the chief minister to press for regularisation of services. "We have been working on meagre wages for over a decade and have received assurances for the past four years. Police reached my house around 5am and stopped me from stepping out," he claimed.Similarly, 3704 Master Cadre Union's Moga district president Yadwinder Singh said he was stopped at his school in Rania, while Muktsar district president Rajewashar Rai was also allegedly confined to his home in Malout.Reacting to the reports, Congress MLA Pargat Singh shared an image on social media showing a teacher seated beside a policeman and questioned the government's actions, terming them "authoritarian".No official response from the police or the state government was available at the time of filing the report.