Chandigarh, October 10: Amid the ongoing protest of contractual teachers against the Punjab government, five teachers were suspended on the night of October 8. The state government also issued a strict order of ‘no work, no pay’ for the protesting teachers. Education Minister of the state Om Prakash Soni said that action would be taken against the teachers for protesting on working days. The minister further added that there must be a proper way to protest and studies of children must not be compromised.

As part of the protest, teachers presented bottles full of their blood to the state government. The state cabinet took the decision to lower the salary of Sarav Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhmik Shikha Abhiyan (RMSA) teachers. The teachers sat on a fast-unto-death protest on Sunday. The five teachers which were arrested on Monday are contractual teachers under the SSA/RMSA. As per reports, the Punjab government has not paid salaries of 8800 teachers of government schools recruited under SSA and RMSA. Amritsar: Government Medical College Bans Jeans, T-shirts For Both Boys and Girls

The state government took a decision to regularise the job of these teachers, but reducing their salary by one-third. Earlier, the salaries of these teachers were paid by the Centre and the State governments in a ratio of 65:35, respectively. As per reports, the state is not ready to contribute its share, so the decision to reduce their salary was taken.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 10, 2018 11:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).