Punjab Teachers Climb Towers to Protest Unemployment

Three unemployed teachers from Punjab climbed a mobile tower near the residence of the Chief Minister of Haryana on November 17 in protest of the Punjabi government’s inability to meet the demands of the teachers. The three tower climbers are members of the Unemployed Teachers' Union of Punjab, which has protested the lack of employment and support by the government since March with no results.

In the past two months, protests like this have taken place eight times. Originally, two unemployed teachers decided to take extreme measures by climbing telephone towers and refusing to come down until the government took action. Their demonstration has slowly intensified as more begin to teachers scale towers. On November 17, one male and two female teachers climbed the mobile tower in the early morning. They brought dried fruit packets, blankets, and cell phones with long battery life to update news sources. The two original protesters at Punjab Bhawan have been suspended above ground for over ten days.

The teachers claim that the government promised to upgrade the employment and working conditions of teachers, but the administration has done little to form or implement any policy change. While the government has provided jobs for 3,500 teachers, protesters have demanded that the state ensure work for 15,000 unemployed teachers. The situation worsened in March, when the government decided to privatize the Punjab public education system because of poor performance. The teachers viewed the privatization of the education system as a way to avoid its responsibility of fixing the public schools.

The building protests reflect the level of discontent amongst teachers and draw attention to the lack of government support towards education in Punjab. Teachers are an important component to an education, and the teachers argue that in order to provide a solid foundation for children, they need employment and compensation. It is not clear how the government will respond to the unrest, but it is likely that the protesters will not stop until they receive adequate acknowledgement.