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Kiranjit Kaur, who had set herself afire to demand that teachers under a government scheme be allowed to reappear in an examination, today died even as her colleagues, who had climbed atop a 100-foot high water tank, ended their protest after authorities met the demand.
Kaur, who immolated herself yesterday, suffered 90 per cent burns. She died in a Ludhiana Hospital, Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Raj Kamal chaudhary here.
Kaur along with six Education Guarantee Scheme teachers had climbed the overhead water tank yesterday, threatening to immolate themselves if they were not allowed to sit in the exam.
Jalandhar Division Commissioner S R Ladhar and DIG Ishwar Singh made appeals to the teachers through the public address system and assured them that government would accept their genuine demands.
After hectic negotiation with the administration and union leaders, the teachers climbed down at 4 am. Ladhar said the government had agreed to issue a notification today to enable the teachers to reappear in the 10+2 exam so that they could improve their score to qualify for the Elementary teachers training course.
The Commissioner also assured that he would consider the demand of over age teachers for admission in ETT course. He also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and asked Kapurthala SDM Kuldip Singh Chandi to submit the report within 15 days. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs 5 lakh as an immediate relief to the next of kin of the hapless teacher, who died in a tragic incident at Kapurthala yesterday.
In a statement here, he said, “I have been deeply pained and shocked by the tragic incident. This is all the more painful as the whole sequence of events is the result of a tragic misunderstanding.
“All the demands for which the teachers were agitating yesterday had already been met and the decision put on record after a cabinet meeting.
“I convey my heart-felt condolences and sympathies to the members of the bereaved family.”
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