Karnal: Woman guest teacher climbs water tank over pay disparity

KARNAL: Demanding equal work and pay, a woman guest teacher on Thursday went atop a water tank in Karnal. On receiving information, police reached the spot and tried to pacify the teacher. But she refused to come down for more than 20 minutes.
Guest teachers, under the banner of Guest Teachers Sangharsh Samiti Haryana, had started an indefinite dharna (sit-in) and hunger strike on September 2 for the fulfilment of their demands, including regularisation of their jobs, equal salary, medical facility and other benefits on a par with the regular staff.
On Thursday, several guest teachers of Haryana held a protest and burnt the effigies of education minister Ram Bilas Sharma for ignoring their demand of equal pay at Kameti Chowk in Karnal. Protesters shouted slogans against the state government.
Meanwhile, irked over non-acceptance of their demands by the government, Maina Yadav, president of the guest teachers committee, went atop the water tank at the old vegetable market in Karnal.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Rajiv and sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Narendra Malik reached the spot and asked her to come down, but she refused. After about 20 minutes, she climbed down at her child's request.
Later Maina said the guest teachers had been demanding equal pay and had been holding demonstrations for several years. She alleged that the government was playing with the future of guest teachers. According to the Guest Teachers Act, 2019, they would not get the status of regular teachers. "On September 3, we had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in blood. However, the BJP government in Haryana is not serious about our demands despite CM's announcement on February 2018," she said.