Tit-for-tat: Navjot Sidhu joins guest teachers' protest in Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 05: In a tit-for-tat move, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu joined the sit-in protest of Delhi guest teachers demanding regularisation of their jobs outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence in Civil Lines on Sunday.

"An ounce of performance is worth a pound of preachment, practice what you preach Arvind Kejriwal
Ji ... Delhi School Teachers say they are treated as bonded labour & daily wagers, paid per day, no payment for holidays or weekends, No guarantee of contract, removed without notice !," Sidhu tweeted attacking the AAP in its own turf, Delhi.

"Delhi Education Model is Contract Model ... Delhi Govt has 1031 Schools while only 196 schools have Principals ... 45% teacher's posts are vacant and schools are run by 22,000 Guest Teachers on daily wages with every 15 days renewal of contracts," Sidhu tweeted.

The Punjab Congress chief said that there were 12,515 job vacancies for teachers in Delhi in 2015, but in 2021, the number had shot up to 19,907. He said the AAP government had been filing up the vacant posts by hiring guest lecturers.

"AAP promised to regularise contractual teachers give equal wages as permanent staff but made it worse by just having guest teachers. Through School Management Committees, so called AAP volunteers earn Rs 5 Lac yearly from Govt funds that earlier were meant for school's development," Sidhu's another tweet read.

It may be recalled that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders are flocking to Punjab in the run up to the Punjab polls.

Last month, Kejriwal had joined the contractual teachers in Punjab's Mohali, who staged a protest making a similar demand.

Punjab goes to polls in early 2022 and the AAP is not leaving any stone unturned to make a decisive presence in the border state.