By IANS
Bhopal : Police Tuesday baton-charged as many as 50 voluntary teachers here when they were going to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's residence to submit a memorandum demanding better salaries and regular jobs.
The voluntary teachers or 'gurujis', whose services are temporary, teach in primary schools and are paid a meagre Rs.1,000 per month as honorarium.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its poll manifesto had promised regular job both 'gurujis' and 'shiksha karmis' (education workers).
On Tuesday, Gurujis from across the state gathered at the city's Tin Shed crossing area to demand regularisation of their services on the lines of the education workers.
As soon as the voluntary teachers started proceeding towards the chief minister's residence, police stopped them at Roshanpura area. Police used teargas and resorted to baton charge to disperse them, protestors said.
Police, however, denied they used batons, saying, "mild force was used to lift a road blockade at the busy Roshanpura crossing."
The opposition Congress condemned the use of force on the teachers. "Brutality and repression is nothing new for the BJP government," said state Congress spokesperson Brijmohan Shrivastava.