Patiala: Demands met, tower stir ends

PATIALA: ETT protester Surinder Pal Singh of Gurdaspur, who had been sitting atop a mobile tower in Patiala for 135 days, scaled down the tower on Sunday as the state government met protesting teachers’ demands, including notification for new ETT posts.
Members of TET-pass ETT Unemployed Teachers Union claimed that Surinder Pal was brought down in the evening with the help of a belt tied around him and district officials helped union members in bringing him down.The protester was later rushed to Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala in an ambulance and kept under observation before doctors discharged him.
Union president Deepak Kamboj, said, “Surinder Pal had to undergo several tests, including ECG. He was given medicines by doctors, who said his health is normal. Doctors also gave him medicines for joint pain.”
He added, “The government met our demands and issued notification for recruitment of 6,635 posts of ETT teachers. The government also met our demand to give first preference to ETT teachers in the recruitment and changed the rules.” Kamboj said union members honoured Surinder Pal with garlands as he fought till last. He added one more meeting with education minister Vijay Inder Singla had been fixed for Monday over one of the demands that the government was yet to meet.
Union members said they had tabled their demand for age relaxation in recruitments as a number of unemployed members had turned overage in the last five years.