Bhopal teachers tonsure heads in protest, demand inclusion under education dept

Bhopal: Several teachers, including four women, on Saturday tonsured their heads demanding that the state government include them in the education department as regular teachers.

Teachers from across the state had gathered at the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) Jamboorie ground where several of them tonsured their heads.

Azad Adhyapak Sangh's working president Shivraj Verma said the act by Shilpi Siwan (Mhow), Seema Kshirsagar (Alirajpur), Archana Sharma (Jabalpur) and Renuka Sagar (Raisen) was a first for their protest.

He said that the teachers had planned to "present" the chopped off hair to Sadhna Singh, wife of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, but were prevented from reaching the CM's residence by the authorities.

"We don't know which department we belong to. The education department says we are employees of local bodies. The local bodies say we are employees of the education department. Over 2.88 lakh temporary teachers are caught in this situation for the past several years," Verma said.

The main demand of the protesters is that their services be brought under the education department and they be provided facilities given to government employees.