Ludhiana: Police today resorted to mild baton charge to thwart a protest by thousands of teachers on the Grand Trunk Road here today.
The teachers were protesting in support of their demands, including regularisation of the contractual staff, Didar Singh, a representative of the teachers, said.
The teachers blocked vehicular traffic on Ludhiana-Jalandhar national highway for more than an hour.
They lifted the sit-in after an assurance from the Ludhiana district administration that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh would meet them on April 2 in Chandigarh.
The protest was organised by the Joint Teachers Front. Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal condemned the lathi charge on teachers.
In a statement issued in Chandigarh, Badal said the teachers were protesting "because the ruling Congress is refusing to honour its pre-election promise to regularise all 15,000 contractual teachers in the state."
"The SAD is with the teachers and will raise the demand for regularisation of all 15,000 teachers in the ongoing Vidhan Sabha budget session," he added. PTI
