12092026-LT-01.qxd 12-09-2026 00:54 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune LANDSLIDE WIN FOR SAGGAR IN DIST BAR ASSN ELECTIONS SHAMBHAVI BAGS TRIPLE GOLD IN BADMINTON C’SHIP PRINCESS DIANA’S ‘REVENGE DRESS’ TO BE AUCTIONED Decisive victory of Vipin Saggar appears to have been driven by strong support from young and women lawyers. P2 Shambhavi Rauthan achieved a golden hat-trick at East Zone Badminton C’ship in Bhubaneswar. P2 The iconic ‘revenge dress’ is set to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s in New York on December 9. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6:32 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:06 AM » SATURDAY | 12 SEPTEMBER 2026 | LUDHIANA Despite staff crunch, 373 teachers put on ration card verification duty Fresh deployment comes days after 686 were assigned similar work Sukhpreet Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 11 Even as government schools in the district are struggling with a shortage of teaching staff and teachers are already engaged in SIR, BLO, Census and other government duties, another 373 School Education Department employees have now been assigned ration card verification work. The fresh deployment comes days after 686 teachers were assigned similar duty, drawing strong opposition from teachers and their unions over the diversion of teaching staff from classrooms. The latest duty list, issued on September 10, comprises 373 employees of the School Education Department. The employees have been directed to report at Guru Nanak Bhawan on September 11 at 9.30 am for ration card verification work. The official list carries serial numbers up to 373. The fresh deployment has come within days of the district administration assigning 686 teachers for ration card verification. The earlier order had triggered objections from teachers, who said, they were already perform- A class in progress at a government primary school in Salkiana village. ing SIR and BLO duties and schools were facing staff shortage. The deployment had also come close to the mid-term examinations. Jagjit Singh Mann, district president of the Government Teachers’ Union and head teacher of Government Primary School, Mangli Uchi, said the situation had reached a point where schools were finding it difficult to function with available staff. “We are already short of staff. There are four teachers in my school and all four are performing different duties assigned by the government. If teachers are continuously taken away from schools, how will we teach students? Either the authorities should shut government schools or it should ensure that teachers remain in schools for teaching,” he said. He said teachers were being repeatedly assigned duties for SIR, BLO, census, surveys and other government works, leaving schools with fewer teachers to handle regular classes. Dharamjeet Singh, Ludhiana district president of the Lecturer Cadre Union, Punjab, also questioned the repeated deployment of teachers for non-teaching work. “Khedan Watan Punjab Diyan sports event, mid-term examinations and other academic work are already going on. Earlier there were the drug survey and Census, and now teachers are on BLO duty. Teachers are being given one duty after another,” he said. He said: “I am a teacher at GSSS, Dhanansu. We have 13 teachers and already six teachers are on different duties assigned by the government.” The staff shortage is not limited to a few schools. As many as 125 government primary schools in the district are functioning with just single teacher, despite the Right to Education norms requiring at least two teachers for a primary school with up to 60 students. The issue has repeatedly been raised by teachers’ organisations. In July, the Democratic Teachers’ Front had opposed the deployment of 607 teachers for the Drug and Socio-Economic Census, stating that repeated engagement in surveys, BLO and SIR duties was affecting teaching. The ration card verification work is now being assigned to School Education Department staff as well. Manoj Kumar, deputy education officer said: “I have already requested the administration not to put this number of teachers on duty as there is already a staff shortage. Now, I have requested the department to give relaxation to the teachers as much as they can.” c m y b Youth abducted, beaten; escapes from clutches of miscreants Ludhiana, September 11 A 20-year-old youth was allegedly abducted by miscreants and taken to the Alamgir area here. He was mercilessly beaten and held captive. The suspects reportedly demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh from his family and threatened to kill him if the amount was not paid. The victim somehow managed to escape from the clutches of the suspects and informed the police. As per the complaint lodged with the police, the victim, a resident of Daad village, had gone for a walk when Sunny, Gunni, Dana, Aryan and Ghuggi and three-four unidentified persons allegedly kidnapped him. The complainant said the suspects took him to some places in Alamgir area. He was beaten up there and held captive. They demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh from his family. They also threatened to kill him if the money was not paid. The youth told the police that he somehow managed to escape from the place. Meanwhile, head constable Gurpreet Singh said after registering a case, the police were conducting a thorough probe into the matter. The investigation so far had revealed that the suspects and the complainant were old acquaintances of each other. — TNS Waris Punjab De protests ‘atrocities’ by AAP govt Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 11 With the Assembly elections approaching, political protests against the AAP government in the state have intensified, with members and supporters of SAD (Waris Punjab De) staging demonstrations outside residences of AAP ministers in the district. The supporters, majority of them youngsters, protested outside the houses of Cabinet Ministers Tarunpreet Singh Sondh and Hardeep Singh Mundian in the district. The protest was a part of the statewide agitation against the AAP government by Waris Punjab De. Both protests in Ludhiana were held under the guidance of leader Manpreet Singh Ayali. The protesters showed black flags to the government demanding justice in several serious matters. Ayali told The Tribune that the alleged police brutality against Mohanjit Singh Sheron, who was subjected to physical and mental torture after being detained and tortured for showing black flags to the Chief Minister, near the residence of Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Waris Punjab De leaders and supporters protest outside the residence of minister Hardeep Singh Mundian in Ludhiana. Balbir Singh recently in Patiala was intolerable. “Besides, the Chief Minister’s wife too has been named in a Rs 5-crore bribery case against a rapist and the tragic death of farmer Gulzar Singh was another example about the atrocities being done by the ruling party in the state. We want accountability by the state government on all these matters. Black flags were shown to the ministers of AAP by Waris Punjab De all over,” Ayali alleged. The protesters sat in front of the ministers’ houses and raised anti-government slogans to demand proper probe in all these incidents. Day before, Gajjanmajra’s residence gheraoed Another incident occurred on Thursday evening at Begowal village in the Amargarh area, a video of which was also surfaced on social media. The protesters gheraoed the residence of AAP MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra against the alleged torture of a woman by the police and AAP workers. Instead of taking action against the party workers, the MLA allegedly turned a blind eye and decided to hold a rally against the victim. Meanwhile, the protesters were stopped from entering the house of the MLA by the police.