English 
हिन्दी 
Thousands of employees, pensioners and honorarium workers, under the banner of the Punjab Mulazim and Pensioners Sanjha Front, staged a massive protest against the state government at Aarti Chowk, seeking implementation of the sixth pay commission recommendations. They also organised a march to Ghumar Mandi, raising slogans against the Punjab government.
The protest comes amid the electioneering for the Ludhiana West bypoll, with Sanjha Front leaders, including Gagandeep Bhullar, Satish Rana and Sukhdev Singh Saini, criticising the government for “not regularising outsourced and contractual workers”. They also demanded restoration of old pension schemes, rural allowances and dearness allowance arrears. The protesters condemned the imposition of a ₹200 development tax and called for its immediate rollback.
Bhullar said, “During the march, ADC Kulpreet Singh assured us of a meeting on June 26 with the Punjab cabinet sub-committee in Chandigarh.” Union members said they would intensify their struggle if their demands were not met.
Promises not kept, allege vocational teachers
Vocational teachers from across Punjab, under the banner of the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) Vocational Teachers’ Front, staged a protest on Saturday. They alleged the state government didn’t fulfil the promises it made before the 2022 elections. “The chief minister had vowed to regularise all temporary staff in the first cabinet meeting, but even after three years, no such action has been taken,” the protesters alleged.
They accused the government of privatising government schools.
Khushwinder Kaur, an NSQF employee, said cabinet ministers Hardeep Singh Mundian, Ravjot Singh and state minister for water resources Barinder Kumar Goyal met the protesters and assured them that their delegation would be allotted time to meet the CM on June 26 to discuss our demands. So, we called off the protest for now,” she said.
State committee members Ranjit Singh Barnala, Bhupinder Singh Ropar, Ranjit Nawanshahr and Gurjeet Singh were present during the protest.
The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) staged a protest rally on Saturday, accusing the state government of ignoring higher education. Professors from 136 aided colleges across Punjab participated in the demonstration.
Vinay Sofat, vice president of the All-India Federation of College and University Teachers’ Organisations, said that most aided colleges have been running without government grants for the past five months.
Despite the announcement of the new financial year’s budget, bills for 2024-25 remain pending. “We condemn the government for delaying teachers’ salaries, while ministers receive their payments on time,” he added. District president of PCCTU, Chamkaur Singh criticised education minister Harjot Singh Bains for never visiting any aided college during his tenure. He said these colleges are the backbone of Punjab’s higher education yet remain neglected by the state.
PCCTU state president Seema Jetli accused the government of favouring private universities and diverting public education into private hands. Bahadur Singh raised concerns over the non-implementation of the 7th Pay Commission in most aided colleges, even though it was announced by the state government in October 2022.
