National level Kabbadi player Manjit Kaur Manju has been sitting on fast unto death since Wednesday to highlight the plight of the jobless Physical Training Instructors who have been demanding employment from the Punjab Government under the sports quota.
Kaur, who hails from Jalandhar, told reporters in Chandigarh on Thursday that she had participated in many national meets including the National Games.
"Despite promises made to the unemployed teachers, the Punjab Government has failed to provide them with jobs," she alleged.
Kaur, who herself is a job aspirant under the sports quota, said she would continue with her fast till their demand is met.
Like Kaur, there are about 1000 like her including men all over Punjab, all in the age group varying between 19-25 years, who have played upto national or state level in varying sports disciplines, but there are no jobs for them.
Along side Kaur, Sukhjinder Jainpur, who hails from Kapurthala, has been sitting on fast unto death for the past one week.
"As you can see, Jainpur's condition is deteriorating, but authorities are showing no concern," say Rajwinder Singh Dhillon, president of the Unemployed Teachers Union and Mandeep Kundi, secretary of the Union.
"About 100 of the unemployed teachers from all over Punjab have been sitting on dharna here in rotation for the past several days. All of us have completed Physical Education course under the Guru Nanak Dev University after spending huge sums. We have met Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in the past couple of months on three different occasions, but all we have got are assurances," Kundi laments.
