Secondary grade teachers in TN continue hunger strike demanding equal pay for equal work

Members of the Tamil Nadu State Secondary Grade Teachers Association, have decided to continue their hunger strike demanding revised wages, after yet another meeting with officials, failed on Wednesday.

Over 2,000 teachers are staging the hunger strike, at the campus of the Directorate of Public Instructions (DPI). Over 100 teachers fainted during the same. While many were hospitalised, others were treated at DPI campus itself. The teachers met with officials from the School Education Department on Wednesday. However, they said that the strike would continue, as the meeting did not yield any favourable outcome.

Speaking to Express, Pradeep Yadav, the Principal Secretary to the department, said that decisions on pay wages will be taken by the State government. Our hands are tied until the report from the one-man expert committee, is submitted. We have requested the teachers to withdraw their protest until the report is submitted, he said. We have waited a long time and the Government has repeatedly delayed its decision to revise our wages, said T Elango, from the association.

The teachers began their hunger strike on Monday evening by staging a road 'roko' on College Road, where DPI is located. They were detained by the police on Monday night and Tuesday. The teachers were, however, asked to leave the stadium on Tuesday evening. They have been in a sit-in hunger strike at DPI since.

More than 21,000 teachers across Tamil Nadu, are protesting against the pay anomalies and want the State government to intervene. 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.