Sixteen teachers were hospitalised after they fainted during the second day of the hunger strike by Tamil Nadu State Secondary Grade Teachers Association on Tuesday demanding a pay revision. Over 3,000 teachers were at Rajarathinam Stadium at Egmore.
The teachers began their hunger strike on Monday evening after their meeting with School Education Minister proved to be fruitless. The same day over a thousand teachers staged a road roko on College Road, where the Directorate of Public Instruction is located. They were later detained by police and kept at the stadium. The others joined them on Tuesday.
More than 21,000 teachers across Tamil Nadu are protesting against the pay anomalies and demanded the State government's intervention. Under the 6th Pay Commission, teachers who joined before 2009 draw a basic monthly salary of Rs 8,370 while those who joined later get Rs 5,200. The teachers, who planned a strike earlier this month, postponed it after School Education minister KA Sengottaiyan, agreed to meet them on Monday.
The State government said a decision will be taken only after the expert committee submits a report. The committee's deadline to submit the report is January 7, said T Elango of the association. However, the teachers believed they will not get a favourable outcome and decided to go on an indefinite hunger strike.
Late on Tuesday evening, the protesters were sent out of the stadium by police. They marched back to DPI where they continued the sit-in hunger strike.
