CHANDIGARH-To address the concerns of educational staff across the state, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema convened meetings on Tuesday with delegations from five unions of the Education Department. Serving as a comprehensive overview of the state government's proactive approach, the discussions focused on sympathetically resolving legitimate demands and grievances.
After reviewing their respective memorandums, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, "The state government is highly receptive to your concerns, and most of your legitimate demands are already being processed. All the remaining valid demands will also be addressed in a time bound manner. I have explicitly directed the senior authorities of the Education Department to expedite the processing of these files so that they are resolved at the earliest.”
During the comprehensive deliberations, the delegations presented specific memorandums outlining their core issues. The Special Cadre Teachers Front put forth demands regarding the implementation of proper pay scales and service rules, representatives from the Democratic Mid Day Meal Cook Front advocated for bringing mid-day meal workers under minimum wage laws, the Adarsh School Teaching Non-Teaching Employees Union raised concerns related to salary and promotions, the NSQF Vocational Teachers Front emphasised the need to eliminate private company intermediaries and integrate them into the Education Department, and the Computer Teachers Union presented their memorandum focusing on immediate financial relief and long-term welfare security.
During the meetings Anubhav Gupta, Gurdeep Singh and Anil Kumar from the Special Cadre Teachers Front, Simarjeet Kaur, Suresh Rani, Jail Kaur and Jangbahadar Kaur from the Democratic Mid Day Meal Cook Front, Manmohan Singh, Deepak Kumar and Shubhkaran from the Adarsh School Teaching Non-Teaching Employees Union, Bhupinder Singh, Ranjit Singh and Gurjit Singh from the NSQF Vocational Teachers Front, and Gurwinder Singh, Harjeet Singh and Nardeep Sharma from the Computer Teachers Union presented their issues and concerns of their unions.