CHANDIGARH: Punjab Finance Minister and Chairman of the Cabinet Sub-Committee constituted for resolving employee matters, Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday issued comprehensive directions to the Education and Power departments during detailed meetings held with representatives of seven unions from the Education Department and two unions from the Power Department to accelerate the review of service-related matters through the constituted officers’ committee and financial issues through the finance committee to present concrete, actionable proposals for an expedited resolution.
During the meetings with the education sector unions, which were attended by Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, the demands of the 3704 Teacher Union were given serious consideration. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema directed the high level committee constituted on July 9, comprising officials from the Finance Department, Personnel Department, School Education Department, Office of the Advocate General and union representatives, to submit its formal proposal at the earliest possible timeframe.
Addressing financial concerns raised by the ETT (Elementary Teacher Training) TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) Pass Teachers Association, Minister Harpal Singh Cheema directed officials from both the Finance and Education departments to conduct an immediate joint meeting with union leaders to formulate appropriate proposals for resolving all legitimate grievances.
Further strengthening the dialogue with education personnel, the cabinet minister met with representatives of the United Physical Education Union and the Murh Bahal Kachhe Adhiyapak Union, directing the School Education Department to accelerate administrative proceedings to resolve their valid demands.
Addressing recruitment concerns regarding 250 Art and Craft teacher positions, Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “The Punjab Government is actively working toward an effective resolution.” He also appealed to the union leadership to discard internal conflicts and submit a unified memorandum of demands to facilitate a swift, fair and decisive outcome.
In subsequent deliberations with the Coordination Committee of PSPCL and PSTCL Contractual Workers, Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “The ongoing government initiative to bring outsourced personnel under direct departmental contracts will automatically resolve the vast majority of your operational challenges.”
Meeting with the Powercom Outsource Spot Billing Meter Reader Union, the Finance Minister directed Punjab State Power Corporation Limited authorities to sympathetically review their legitimate grievances and initiate appropriate official action.
The extensive meetings witnessed active participation from union delegations representing diverse cadres. The 3704 Teacher Union was represented by Harjinder Singh, Rajeshwar Rai, Jagjeevanjot Singh, and Rajan Saini. The ETT TET Pass Teachers Association delegation included Kamal Thakur, Sohan Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Gaurav Kant, and Gurmukh Singh. Lakhveer Singh and Mandeep Singh represented the United Physical Education Union, while Vikas Sahni, Lakhwinder Kaur, Amandeep Kaur, Gurpreet Singh, and Jaswinder Kaur presented concerns on behalf of the Murh Bahal Kacche Adhiyapak Union. Representation for art and craft cadres included Sandeep Singh from the Rozgar Drawing Master Struggle Committee, Ranjit Singh from the B.Ed. PSTET-2 Pass Art and Craft Unemployed Teacher Union, Harjinder Singh from the Art and Craft TET Pass Unemployed Teacher Union, and Rakesh Kumar from the Unemployed PSTET Pass Art and Craft Struggle Union. The power sector delegations featured Balihar Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Jagroop Singh, Harjit Singh, and Gurpreet Singh from the Coordination Committee of PSPCL and PSTCL Contractual Workers, alongside Lakhwinder Singh and Gurwinder Singh Kahlon representing the Powercom Outsource Spot Billing Meter Reader Union.
