Teachers Protest Across Panjab, Met with Baton Charge & Water Cannons

The Computer Teachers’ Union, Panjab and the Computer Teachers’ Struggle Committee, Ludhiana, alleged that non-teaching duties were being imposed on them during school final exams under the Panjab government’s newly launched health insurance scheme Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana (Chief Minister's Health Scheme). On 2 Mar, the unions met Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain and other officials to submit a memorandum and demanded immediate rollback of the order. Despite the pushback, on 6 Mar, the Education Department issued a directive to all officials and school heads to ensure immediate registration of all teaching and non-teaching staff under the insurance scheme. Additionally, teachers’ organizations across the state have been protesting to demand the Panjab government’s support against the Supreme Court of India’s (SCI) Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) ruling. In Sep 2025, SCI made it mandatory for in-service teachers of Classes 1 to 8 in non-minority schools to clear the TET within two years. Teacher unions have announced an anti-TET march to the Panjab Legislative Assembly on 12 Mar to protest the government’s move to make the TET mandatory for in-service teachers recruited before the rule came into force. Representatives alleged that under the pretext of a court ruling, in-service teachers are being threatened with denial of promotions and even loss of jobs if they fail to qualify the test. Concurrently, the Special Cadre Teachers Front, Punjab staged a protest on 2 Mar to press for their long-pending demands. They marched towards the Chief Minister’s House but were stopped at Chandigarh’s entry point where the Chandigarh Police used water cannons and carried out a baton charge to disperse them injuring four teachers. Meanwhile, the Panjab government has ordered the district education officers in the state to ensure that the weight of the school bags should not be more than 10% of the child’s body weight, adding that the bag’s weight for Classes 1 & 2 students must not be more than 2.2 kgs. The order said, ‘Children should be told to not bring anything from home except books and notebooks…Primary schools can consider keeping books and stationery in the schools itself’ (earlier coverage).