***Thousands of teachers in Punjabs aided schools unpaid for 4 months; ***union calls state-level protest on May 9

***Thousands of teachers in Punjabs aided schools unpaid for 4 months; ***union calls state-level protest on May 9
Hoshiarpur/ Daljeet Ajnoha/May6
Thousands of teachers working in Punjabs government-aided schools have been without salaries for the past four months, pushing them into severe financial distress. In four districts of the state, teachers have reportedly not received their wages for the past 11 months.
In protest, the Punjab State Government-Aided Teachers and Other Employees Union has announced a state-level demonstration and dharna in Dhuri on May 9.
Union state president Gurmeet Singh Madnipur and state general secretary Sharanjit Singh Kadi majara said the teachers and other employees of aided schools have been forced to work without pay for a long time due to what they called the Punjab governments negative approach. They alleged that the Education and Finance Departments were withholding salaries under the pretext of auditing school committees.The union leaders said that no grants have been released to any aided school in the state since January 2026, while in several districts, teachers have not received salaries since May 2025. Despite several meetings with the Education Minister, Finance Minister and concerned secretaries, no concrete action has been taken, they claimed.
They warned that aided schools are on the verge of closure because of the Education Departments attitude. They also said that PPOs for pensioners have not been issued, further aggravating their difficulties.The union announced that teachers and pensioners from across Punjab will gather in Dhuri on May 9 to stage a major protest against the state government.Among those present at the announcement were Ashok Vadera, Paramjit Singh Gurdaspur, Abit Masih, Jagjit Singh Gujral, Sukhinder Singh Hoshiarpur, Ashwani Madan, Ajay Chauhan Amritsar, Charanjit Sharma, Karamjit Rano, Madam Monika, and Ravinder jeet, among others.