The Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), Ludhiana, has opposed the district administration’s decision to assign 607 school teachers to the Drug and Socio-Economic Census, alleging that the deployment is being made compulsory despite official instructions stating that the work should be carried out on a voluntary basis.
The protest follows an order issued by the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Urban Development), Ludhiana, on July 3 directing the District Education Officer (Secondary) to nominate teachers for the survey.
According to the order, the nominated teachers have been asked to attend a training-cum-orientation meeting on July 6 at 10 am at the ADC office. They have also been instructed to bring their smartphones, Aadhaar cards and bank account details. The survey is to be conducted with the assistance of teachers and Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
DTF district president Ramanjit Singh Sandhu and general secretary Rupinder Pal Singh Gill said the Aam Aadmi Party had come to power promising to free teachers from non-academic duties, but teachers were now being engaged in SIR work, BLO duties and the Drug and Socio-Economic Census, affecting classroom teaching.
The union alleged that although the government order described the duty as voluntary, the district administration had assigned duties to 607 teachers without seeking their consent. It claimed that the organisation had earlier submitted a representation to the Deputy Commissioner, requesting that only willing teachers be deployed, but the demand was ignored.
The DTF further alleged that several teachers had been posted in far-off areas, including Samrala and Khanna, causing inconvenience and increasing their workload. It said compulsory deployment for non-teaching assignments was putting additional mental pressure on teachers.
Teacher leaders Manpreet Singh Samrala, Balvir Singh Basian, Jangpal Singh Raikot, Jagdeep Singh Johny, Rajinder Jandiali and Avtar Singh Khalsa alleged that teachers were being assigned a majority of government duties while employees of other departments were not being utilised proportionately.
The union demanded that the Drug and Socio-Economic Census duty be assigned only to volunteers, teachers be exempted from non-academic work and essential government assignments be distributed among various departments as per rules.
Warning of an agitation, the DTF said it would launch a protest in Ludhiana if compulsory deployment of teachers continued, adding that students’ education should not suffer because of repeated non-academic assignments.
