Chandigarh:
The meetings assume significance as various teaching and non-teaching employee groups have been seeking the resolution of long-pending service-related matters, including recruitment concerns, regularisation issues, restoration of services, and employment opportunities for qualified candidates. The Punjab Government has been engaging with employee representatives through structured consultations to ensure that grievances are addressed through an institutional mechanism and within the framework of existing administrative and legal provisions.
Speaking on this, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “The meetings, aimed at fostering a constructive dialogue, underscore the Punjab Government’s commitment to systematically addressing the welfare and concerns of its workforce.”
During the deliberations, senior officials from the Education Department apprised the Finance Minister of the current administrative status regarding the unions’ demands, as well as the ongoing actions being taken to address them. After thoroughly reviewing the department’s position, minister Harpal Singh Cheema directed Education Department officials to expedite the administrative processes to resolve the unions’ legitimate demands swiftly, ensuring timely relief and support for the employees.
Cheema further emphasised the importance of maintaining continuous communication between the government and employee organisations to facilitate effective policy implementation and avoid delays in grievance redressal. He reiterated that the government remains committed to ensuring transparency, fairness and accountability while examining employee-related issues and taking decisions in the larger interest of the education sector.
Representatives from each organization were given a patient hearing to articulate their primary demands. The meetings were held at the Finance Minister’s office in the Punjab Civil Secretariat.
The sessions were attended by representative delegations from the Berozgar PSTET Pass Art and Craft Sangharsh Union, the Unaided Staff of Aided School Front, the Murh Bahal Kacche Adhiyapak Union, the Meritorious Teachers Union, and the Berozgar B.Ed TET Pass Adhiyapak Union.
Rakesh Kumar, Kirandeep Kaur and Harbans Singh from the Berozgar PSTET Pass Art and Craft Sangharsh Union, Nirbhai Singh, Sukhchain Singh and Jaswant Singh from the Unaided Staff of Aided School Front, Vikas Sahni, Lakhwinder Kaur and Varun Khera from the Murh Bahal Kacche Adhiyapak Union, Dr Tina, Simran and Rakesh from the Meritorious Teachers Union, and Jaswant Ghubaya, Hardeep Singh and Harpreet Singh from the Berozgar B.Ed TET Pass Adhiyapak Union present their case during the meetings.