CHENNAI: The association representing nearly 20,000 Secondary Grade Teachers (SGTs) employed across the state on Saturday vowed to continue agitation to press for its 16-year demand of equal pay for equal work amid increasing police crackdown.
Accusing the DMK government of failing to address their long-standing demand, the protesters said that despite performing duty identical to their counterparts, they are being paid Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 less every month solely because they were appointed after an arbitrary cut-off date of June 1, 2009. The problem has been continuing from the DMK’s earlier rule in 2009, they said.
On Saturday, hundreds of teachers staged protest near the Chief Educational Officer’s office in Egmore, following which several of them, including women, were forcibly dragged into buses to clear the site. Many of them fainted during the police action and had to be rushed to hospitals for treatment. The protest was first launched on Friday at the Perasiriyar Anbazhagan Education Complex, the School Education Department headquarters.
The New Indian Express reports that the protesters said the disparity stems from the basic pay fixed at the time of appointment. While those appointed before June 1, 2009, were placed on a basic pay of Rs 8,370, teachers appointed on or after the cut-off date were given a basic pay of Rs 5,200 despite having the same qualification and performing the same duty. Nearly 75% of such teachers in government schools are women.
Teachers facing pay disparity for 16 yrs
Shyamala (name changed) was among the 2,457 Secondary Grade Teachers who recently received appointment orders from Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin at an event in Chennai. A graduate with a two-year Diploma in Elementary Education, she cleared the Teachers’ Eligibility Test and later the competitive examination conducted by the Teachers Recruitment Board to secure a government job. Yet, she now draws a basic pay of just Rs 20,600, a disparity that continues to haunt nearly 20,000 Secondary Grade Teachers across TN for nearly 16 years now.
“Teachers appointed before June 1, 2009, whose basic pay was fixed at Rs 8,370, are now drawing around Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 as basic pay after successive pay revisions and increments. Those appointed after the arbitrary cut-off date with a basic pay of Rs 5,200 draw only Rs 20,600.
As all other allowances are linked to basic pay, the monthly gap has widened to Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000,” said S Vijay, a protesting teacher. He added that despite the government’s claims that TN is among the top-performing states in terms of economy and education, it has one of the lowest salary structures for Secondary Grade Teachers in the country when compared to other states.
The teachers said they were hopeful that their demand would finally be addressed after the DMK came to power in 2021, as CM MK Stalin, who was then the Leader of the Opposition, had personally visited the protest site when they were holding agitation in 2018 during the AIADMK regime to express support.
DMK had also promised in its poll manifesto to rectify the pay anomaly that started during its tenure in 2009. “Government employees, especially teachers, have traditionally stood with the DMK. The government has not only failed to fulfil its promise, but is now using force to suppress our protest. This has deeply disappointed us,” said another teacher.
Following intense protests in December 2022, the government constituted a three-member panel comprising the Finance Secretary (Expenditure), the Principal Secretary of the School Education Department, and the Director of Elementary Education to examine the issue. While the panel held consultations with teachers’ associations, there has been no further progress for nearly two years, the teachers said.
This story is reported by Subashini Vijayakumar of The New Indian Express.
