SAD workers along with school students today met the deputy commissioner here and gave him roses as a mark of protest against the shutting of 800 primary schools in Punjab by the state government.
They also submitted a memorandum on the issue to Deputy Commissioner (DC) K S Sangha.
Led by SAD leaders, representatives of 30 panchayats along with the children gave roses to the official.
The party also staged a 'dharna' outside the office against the closing of schools and the hike in power tariffs.
Former minister and SAD general secretary Bikram Singh Majithia said, "In a welfare state, it is the duty of the government to provide primary education to children at their doorstep."
He said that instead of adding to the number of primary schools established by the previous SAD-BJP government, the Congress dispensation had decided to shut 800 schools, including 30 in Amritsar district.
Majithia alleged that this would have an adverse impact on the economically weaker sections of the society and demanded its rollback.
The protesters also demanded that the 10 to 12 per cent hike in domestic power tariffs, being implemented with effect from April, be revoked.
The SAD leader asked farmers participating in the 'dharna' to not allow the government to install electricity meters on their tube wells.
The government is doing this in a "clandestine" manner with the excuse that it wanted to keep a tab on the consumption, he claimed.
"The real agenda is to impose power bills on farmers. More anti-people measures are in the offing. We must all unite to ensure they are not implemented," Majithia said.
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