Shimla: At least 30 protesting teachers were injured when the police resorted to baton charge to disburse them in the state capital of Himachal Pradesh Monday.

More than 10,000 teachers, who were appointed through various parent-teacher associations (PTAs) during the tenure of the previous Congress government, have been on the warpath since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government announced in January this year that it would inquire into the cases of irregularities in their appointments.

"More than 500 teachers were protesting when some of the protesters tried to enter the secretariat. This led to clash between us (the police) and the protesters... we had to use force to disperse them (the teachers)," R.M. Sharma, Shimla's superintendent of police, told IANS.

He said five police personnel were also injured during the clash.

Vivek Mehta, a leader of the protesters, said they were staging a silent protest when the police used force to disperse them.

Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal has already announced a number of times that PTA appointees are not government employees and their agitation is uncalled for.

 

Source : ians