Bathinda: Aam Aadmi Party MLA Sukhbir Singh Maisarkhana on Saturday gunned for his own party’s govt in Punjab, alleging that repeated pleas to fill vacant teacher posts had gone unheeded, including in schools of eminence.Maisarkhana, who is the MLA from Maur, claimed that his two children study at the govt school of eminence in Ramnagar village in Bathinda. In a 14-minute live video on Facebook, he expressed frustration with the govt’s education model and said his repeated requests to fill teacher vacancies had not been addressed.Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains, however, called the allegations “politically motivated”. He said more than 90% teacher posts were filled in Maisarkhana’s constituency. At the school of eminence in Ramnagar, 25 teachers were working against a sanctioned strength of 30 for 580 students, he said.Earlier, Maisarkhana said he had raised the issue with AAP Punjab in charge Manish Sisodia, who told him the chief minister had called him, but the meeting did not take place. “I had been a loyal worker of the party without seeking any favours. I had done no wrong, but despite that I had to face humiliation,” he said, questioning the govt’s claims of a ‘Sikhya Kranti’ (revolution of education) in the state.Bains said there were some vacancies among lecturers, but recruitment was underway to fill them. He questioned why Maisarkhana was “defaming the government”, saying that he might be “feeling politically unsafe”.Maisarkhana, however, said he was particularly concerned about schools in Burj Semewala and Kuttiwal Khurd villages. “I am fighting for refurbishing school education… I am tired of making demands and could not tolerate anymore,” he said.His phone remained switched off when TOI tried to contact him.MLA asks people to ‘rise’Maisarkhana also spoke about his political future, saying he had joined AAP with high hopes but had found that many initiatives remained slogans. He said he no longer cared about getting a party ticket and urged people to “rise” for Punjab.
