Congress’ media incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday urged Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to reinstate retrenched physical training instructors (PTIs) by issuing an ordinance and ratifying it through a Bill passed by Haryana Vidhan Sabha.

The Supreme Court had last month upheld the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, quashing appointment of 1,983 physical training instructors in schools in Haryana in 2010.

Mr. Surjewala said that he has written a letter to the Chief Minister, in which he has also suggested a “draft Bill” for ‘providing security of service to PTIs. “I urge upon you (chief Minister) to take immediate steps to ensure that these 1,983 PTI teachers and their families are not abandoned to the vagaries of unemployment for an irregularity, if any, on the part of the recruiting authority. They and their families will suffer disproportionately given the circumstances that COVID-19 and the lockdown have created as also the fact that all of them are over age and unlikely to secure any other employment,” he wrote.

Mr. Surjewala said if there has been an irregularity in selection, it is solely the remit of the recruiting authority and its brunt cannot be borne by innocent individuals and their families, who are being retrenched from their jobs after long years of service.

“The decision is to be made by the Khattar government whether they are with the youth of Haryana or dismissal of jobs has become the goal of the BJP-JJP government,” he said, speaking at a video press conference.

“Let us not forget that these PTI teachers have done selfless service in the State for more than ten years and many of them have already superannuated by now. Government’s job is to give jobs, not to snatch away jobs. In the present case, when neither corruption in the selection process nor any fault of the selected PTI teachers has been found, why the 1,983 PTI teachers should get the punishment for the shortcomings of the agency that completed the selection process,” said Mr. Surjewala.