Chennai: Over 3,000 state government school teachers who have been on an indefinite strike since January 22 across Tamil Nadu were arrested by the police on Monday after they ignored the deadline served by the AIADMK government to join their duty.
The indefinite strike was being observed by teachers, government employees of Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations (JACTTO) and Government Employees Organisations (GEO).
Defying their detention, the JACTTO and the GEO have maintained that they will continue to protest till their demands are met by the Palaniswami government.
Meanwhile, the government had announced that temporary teachers would be appointed to ensure that the strike has no impact on the students. The government had suspended nearly 450 teachers across the state on Saturday.
The members of JACTTO-GEO are protesting with demands like going back to the old pension scheme, hike in pay for secondary grade teachers among others.
In a statement, Minister Jayakumar asked the teachers to call off the strike as the government “cannot fulfil their demands” as it will lead to bankruptcy of the government and pay disparity.
The School Education Department on Friday gave the protesting teachers the option to avoid disciplinary action by attending the Republic Day celebrations. Failing this, suspensions were carried out.
Ten teachers were suspended in Chennai, while several others were suspended in Cauvery Delta zone where the protests were most intensified.
Chief Educational Officer, Thiruvalar Selvi, Chennai, had informed the protesting teachers that they would be penalised under the ‘no work no pay’ policy if they fail to report for work on Saturday and Monday.
Meanwhile, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court while hearing a petition filed in December 2018 said that it cannot give interim directions when the strike is ongoing and adjourned the case till February 18, 2019.
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