Terminated school board employees stage dharna

MOHALI: With their service terminated even though they had been working as contract clerks and daily wagers in the Punjab School Education Board for close to 10 years, 107 employees started an indefinite dharna outside the board office on Wednesday.
These dismissed clerks have demanded that the board should regularise their services as per the notification of the Punjab government.
"We have been working in the PSEB as clerks since 1993. We were appointed on ad hoc basis and later made employees on contract in 1995. The contract ended on December 21, 2001. After this in place of regularising us the Akali government at that time inducted 135 persons regular employees and reduced our status to daily wagers. And on July 30 our services were terminated by verbal notice. Is this what we get for working without a break in service for 10 years," said the leader of the employees.
The employees also alleged that the PSEB had not implemented repeated notifications of the government for the regularisation of employees who had been working for more than 10 years.
The first such notification was on January 23, 2001, the second was on March 23, 2003 and the latest on April 3 which directed all boards and corporations to regularise services of contract and daily wagers who had completed 10 years or more by June 30.
"Even the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed PSEB in March 2001 to regularised the 107 employees but the PSEB but instead of regularising us the PSEB has given us a shock by ending our services," said the employees.
"We have worked here for the last 10 years and all of us are now overage to apply for jobs in other offices and departments. What will become of our families? How will we feed them," said another employee.
The employees have threatened that if the government and the board does not accept their demands and regularise them as per the notification of April 3, 2003 they will intensify their struggle.
"Its a matter of life and death for us. We will do anything to get what is rightfully ours. We appeal to the congress government to save 107 families from starving, the protestors pleaded.