STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Seeking adjustments and postings of the masters who were promoted in 2014 in the department of Education, scores of Panther activists led by State President JKNPP, Balwant Singh Mankotia and other leaders wearing ‘black bands’ staged protest against the State Government for being callous towards the teaching fraternity, at Exhibition Ground here on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, Mankotia disclosed that 1193 teachers were promoted as Masters on February 2014 out of which 165 were adjusted as Masters on March 2014 and were posted in different schools of Jammu province by violating the norms. He said that left out teachers had been running from pillar to post since last two and half years for their adjustment to next higher grade but nobody paid heed over their demand seriously. He further said that the Education Department had revealed to them that a FIR had been registered on the list of promoted masters and all the documents regarding the promotion were under the scrutiny of State Vigilance Organization. Mankotia added that the previous Directors including the present one had assured these promoted masters that the matter would be taken soon after the proper vigilance clearance but even after the lapse of more than two and a half years nothing had been done in favour of these masters.
Mankotia questioned the Education Department that if the FIR had been reregistered on the whole list than how come 165 teachers out of the list were adjusted and posted as masters without vigilance clearance. Dubbing the harassment of these masters as another example of discrimination, he said that in the same year similar teachers in Kashmir valley were promoted and adjusted as masters but since the impugned list contained the incumbents from Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur, Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts; the government seemed to have deliberately shelved the matter thus adding to the woes of the masters of Jammu region. He demanded an immediate adjustment of all the teachers promoted as Masters in Jammu province and cautioned that NPP shall resort to a full throttle agitation against the state government until the aggrieved teachers were ensured justice.
Among those who led the protest include Rajesh Padgotra, Shankar Singh, Naresh Chib, Rajesh Gupta, Sham Gorkha, Vinod Singh, Arun Khajuria, Ravinder Jamwal, Kailash Mohan, Satvir Singh, Anil Rakwal, Kewal Krishan Sharma, Udayveer, Rakesh Verma and Sunil Salathia.
