Teacher organisations across Punjab staged vigorous district-level protests on Tuesday, demanding justice and substantial compensation for colleagues who lost their lives or suffered injuries while performing election duties. The demonstrations, held outside deputy commissioners' offices, saw participants burn effigies of the Punjab government and the State Election Commission while submitting memorandums addressed to the chief minister.
What Triggered the Statewide Protests?
The immediate catalyst for the agitation was a tragic road accident on December 14. Teacher Jaskaran Singh Bhullar and his wife, also a teacher named Kamaljit Kaur, died after their car plunged into a water channel in Moga district. They were travelling for election duty at the time.
This was not an isolated incident. In a separate event in Moonak, Sangrur district, associate teacher Rajveer Kaur was injured in a similar accident. Another teacher, Parmjit Kaur, met with an accident at Patran in Patiala district. Teacher unions have squarely blamed these incidents on what they call administrative arbitrariness and negligence in assigning election duties for the recent Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections.
Key Demands of the Agitating Teachers
Addressing the protest gatherings, prominent state-level teacher leaders Vikram Dev Singh, Digvijay Pal Sharma, and Sukhwinder Singh Chahal put forth a list of non-negotiable demands. Their primary focus was on the families of the deceased.
The organisations demanded an immediate compensation of ₹2 crore each for the children of Jaskaran Singh and Kamaljit Kaur. They also insisted on government-funded education for the children and reserved government jobs for both. For the injured teachers, they sought compensation of ₹20 lakh each and full government coverage for all medical treatment, with the recovery period to be treated as official duty.
Specifically for the Moonak incident, they demanded the government bear all treatment expenses for Rajveer Kaur and her husband, who was also hurt.
Systemic Failures and a Call for Safety Reforms
The teacher leaders accused the authorities of repeatedly ignoring their long-standing safety demands, which they believe led to these avoidable tragedies. They had urged for several reforms, including:
- Assigning election duties within teachers' parent blocks to minimise travel.
- Exempting lactating mothers and teachers with serious illnesses from such duties.
- Ensuring proper arrangements for stay and food at polling booths.
- Proportionate distribution of non-teaching duties.
They also highlighted the perilous conditions for vote counting duties, where staff were deputed to other tehsils with early morning reporting times, forcing them to travel 40-50 kilometres in dense fog. The leaders termed the deaths not as accidents but as direct consequences of government failure.
The teacher organisations have issued a stern warning, stating that if the Punjab government fails to deliver justice, they will announce further, intensified action programmes. Their core demand remains clear: district administrations must assign duties locally to prevent any more major accidents and protect the lives of public servants on election duty.
