CHANDIGARH: While the public welcomed New Year having a gala time at parties, Punjab’s education minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema was at the receiving end as ETT teachers entered his official residence here and laid siege, thus forcing the minister outside his own house.
The drama ensued when some 100 odd aspirants of EET teachers entered the Sector 39 residence of Dr Daljit Singh Cheema at around 1 PM on Saturday afternoon. The policemen on duty outside the Ministerial Complex in Sector 39 where Punjab’s ministers and senior IAS officers reside, could not stop them as they (protesting teachers) forced their entry into the complex.
The teachers barged into the official residence of Cheema after ‘over powering’ his security personnel. However, at the time the incident occurred, the minister was not at his residence and when he returned home for lunch he was surprised to see that the protestors had taken over his house.
Talking with Express, Cheema said, ”When I returned back home, I saw that protesting teachers have laid siege to my house. I tried to convince them but the attempts went in vain. My staff called up the Chandigarh police, however, they did not respond. The Punjab DGP Suresh Arora called up inspector general of police of Chandigarh but that did not help either. I too called up the officers but there was no response from the Chandigarh Police.’’
“Then finally at 10 PM, I went to Punjab Raj Bhawan and tried to meet the Punjab governor and Chandigarh administrator VP Singh Badnore. On finally meeting the governor at 12.30 AM, he summoned the inspector general of police of Chandigarh, Tajendra Singh Luthra and he in turn accompanied me back to my residence. The teachers were finally evicted and arrested only after 13 hours, on early Sunday morning,’’ added Cheema.
Cheema alleges that there is a complete downfall of law and order in Chandigarh. “If this kind of an incident can happen with a minister, how safe are the general public?’’ he questioned.
He said that he will be writing to the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal regarding the matter and take up the issue with ministry of home affairs (MHA) as Chandigarh is a Union Territory. He will seek a high level inquiry into the whole incident.
Cheema had reportedly staged a dharna outside the Punjab Raj Bhawan in protest against the “failure” of the Chandigarh police to evict protesting ETT teachers from his official residence on Saturday night.
“These aspirants from backward class wanted to get jobs in ETT but did not qualify for the same but were forcing me to give them jobs. The recruitment process was transparent and the deserving candidates got a job,’’ said Cheema.
When contacted, Tajendra Singh Luthra said, ” We have registered a case of trespassing against the protesting teachers and have already arrested 33 of them.’’