Govt staff, teachers protest delay in salary revision, launch indefinite strike
TNN | Updated: Sep 12, 2017, 00:01 IST
Chennai: A section of government employees and teachers in schools, colleges and universities started an indefinite strike on Monday protesting against the delay in implementing salary revision as per the seventh pay commission recommendations. In many districts, teachers boycotted classes and raised slogans against the government.
Political parties have criticized the government for trying to gag the teachers by threatening to invoke Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against them. But the protesters have decided to go ahead with their strike. They have threatened to intensify the agitation by staging demonstrations in front of district collectorates on Tuesday.
So far, more than 70 employee associations have had talks with the government committee on pay commission. But now, the government has appointed another former IAS official to hold talks with the associations. "This shows that the government is not interested in implementing the pay commission recommendations," said Tamil Nadu Government Employees' Association general secretary M Anbarasu.
"We have three main demands. Reversion to the old pension system, granting minimum pension to more than 3.5 lakh workers employed in various welfare programmes like noon-meal and anganwadi and filling up of 2 lakh vacancies in various departments," said commercial tax officer and a member of Tamil Nadu Government Employees' Association, R Tamil Selvi.
The demands of the employees are as old as 2003. "It is not to pressurise the government. We have been fighting since 2003 and then AIADMK government did not yield to our demands. The DMK government relented and implemented some of our demands but the main ones mentioned above have been on paper as both the parties did not implement it," said Tamil Selvi.
While many government offices in Chennai as well as districts functioned with less number of employees, functioning of schools and colleges were affected in some areas as both teachers and students were on strike.
Students boycotted classes protesting against NEET.
TNN | Updated: Sep 12, 2017, 00:01 IST
Chennai: A section of government employees and teachers in schools, colleges and universities started an indefinite strike on Monday protesting against the delay in implementing salary revision as per the seventh pay commission recommendations. In many districts, teachers boycotted classes and raised slogans against the government.
Political parties have criticized the government for trying to gag the teachers by threatening to invoke Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against them. But the protesters have decided to go ahead with their strike. They have threatened to intensify the agitation by staging demonstrations in front of district collectorates on Tuesday.
So far, more than 70 employee associations have had talks with the government committee on pay commission. But now, the government has appointed another former IAS official to hold talks with the associations. "This shows that the government is not interested in implementing the pay commission recommendations," said Tamil Nadu Government Employees' Association general secretary M Anbarasu.
"We have three main demands. Reversion to the old pension system, granting minimum pension to more than 3.5 lakh workers employed in various welfare programmes like noon-meal and anganwadi and filling up of 2 lakh vacancies in various departments," said commercial tax officer and a member of Tamil Nadu Government Employees' Association, R Tamil Selvi.
The demands of the employees are as old as 2003. "It is not to pressurise the government. We have been fighting since 2003 and then AIADMK government did not yield to our demands. The DMK government relented and implemented some of our demands but the main ones mentioned above have been on paper as both the parties did not implement it," said Tamil Selvi.
While many government offices in Chennai as well as districts functioned with less number of employees, functioning of schools and colleges were affected in some areas as both teachers and students were on strike.
Students boycotted classes protesting against NEET.
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