Ludhiana: ‘Headless’ lecturers’ union meets, discusses DA, principal vacancies

The members of Government School Lecturer Union (GSLU) from 12 districts of Punjab, gathered at Government Senior Secondary Smart School in Jawahar Nagar on Monday to discuss the further course of action after sudden resignation of union president, Sanjiv Kumar, who later revoked his decision and took back his resignation.

GSLU president of Ludhiana West, Manjit Singh, said the meeting was organised to discuss the demands of lecturers that would be forwarded to the higher officials of education department.

GSLU vice-president Aman Sharma said, “The rural allowance which was given earlier is not being provided now to the lecturers in rural areas. The dearness allowance has been decreased by 12%. The 700 vacant posts of school principals in the state, out of which nearly 50 are in Ludhiana district.” There had been a continuous delay in the promotion of lecturers in the state, added Sharma.

The meeting was presided over by four members of internal committee of the union in the absence of acting president.

GSLU president for 3 years, Sanjiv Kumar, said, “I have not resigned from the position of president. Few days back, I decided to resign for betterment of the union, but upon reconsideration, I withdrew my resignation. I am unaware about the motive behind the meeting in my absence.” He would hand over the position only after the elections of the union, due in June, added Kumar.

Another union member said, “Kumar has done nothing productive for us. We have been paying him out of our own pockets to further our demands to the higher officials, but all we get is an assurance from him.”

GSLU vice-president said, “Why would we conduct a meeting in his absence if he had not resigned? There must have been a misunderstanding and we would not want anything to hamper the working of our union.”

However, the union has organised another meeting on April 21 for further discussion.