Thousands of teachers in Haryana took to the streets on 18 July, protesting the dismissal of 1,983 physical training instructors following a Supreme Court order issued on 1 June.
The protest was organised in the city of Jind and witnessed the presence of teachers from all over the state.
Some even cycled for more than a hundred kilometres through dozens of villages, making the villagers aware of the pitiable condition of trainers.
The trainers got support from not only fellow teachers and colleagues but also from a few legislators and dozens of Khap Panchayats.
Why Were the Teachers Dismissed?
These physical training instructors were appointed in April 2010 during Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s tenure.
The concerned advertisement for it stated that marks for the interview were to be awarded out of 25. However, candidates claim this was later increased to 30, without them even being notified about the change.
After results were announced and these 1,983 physical training instructors were recruited, 61 of the non-selected candidates filed a case against this recruitment.
On 11 September 2012, a single bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued an order to dismiss the recruitment, followed by a judgment of HC’s division bench in September 2013, which upheld the previous ruling.
The affected teachers then appealed in Supreme Court while they continued their service and also got promoted. Finally, in June 2020, the SC issued an order to sack these 1,983 PTIs and conduct a retest wherein only those who applied for the job back then can apply.
Teachers Left in the Lurch
Such cases are filed against almost every recruitment made by Haryana government, which shows the inefficiency and corruption that runs in the system. However, this is the first time that government employees have been sacked after 10 years of service.
Imagine being asked to appear for your Class 12 board exams ten years after you’ve passed out. Not pleasant, right? This is how teachers in the state are feeling at the moment.
“They haven’t just snatched my job and salary, by doing this they’ve snatched away all the respect that a teacher is entitled to and they haven’t just disrespected the 1,983 of us but all the teachers, nationwide.”A teacher who didn’t wish to be named.
Losing their job amid the coronavirus pandemic, the trainers and their families have been left in the lurch. Many of them were the sole breadwinner in their families and have no other source of income as the government has also stopped the pension of widows, leaving them in a miserable state.
Khap Panchayats have issued an ultimatum to the government stating that if the government doesn’t take any steps in favour of those who’ve lost their jobs by 25 July, then people will take to the streets and block all the roads.
“If the government does’t reappoint these 1983 physical training instructors, then we won’t celebrate Independence Day.”A protester
Officials of the local region have criticised the teachers for gathering and violating social distancing norms but the teachers in return said “we don’t have a choice, our children would die of hunger rather than the virus”.
(Tamanna Malik is a second-year literature student at Gargi College, Delhi University.)
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