Karnal police disperse protesting guest teachers with water cannons

Karnal: The police used water cannons to disperse protesting guest teachers on Tuesday near the mini-secretariat in Karnal as they were trying to head to Highway 44.

The guest teachers, under the banner of Guest Teachers Sangharsh Samiti Haryana, launched their protest on September 1 and are demanding regular jobs and medical and other facilities on par with regular teachers.

Hundreds of guest teachers, sowm of whom were not wearing shirts, from across Haryana held a protest march on Tuesday. They were stopped by the police near mini-secretariat and the guest teachers staged a dharna on the road near the secretariat.

They raised slogans against chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and education minister Ram Bilas Sharma and when they refuse to disperse, water cannons were used by the police.

Maina Yadav, president of Guest Teachers Sangharsh Samiti Haryana, said the guest teachers had been demanding equal work and equal pay and have been holding demonstrations since many years. The state government has forced them to protest, she claimed and added if their demands were not met, they would not allow BJP candidates to enter their villages during the assembly elections.