CHENNAI: Following a protest by the coordination committee of all teachers’ and non-teaching staff associations on Wednesday, the state school education department released the salaries of over 20,000 employees under the Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme for the month of September. Officials confirmed that funds were dispatched to the respective districts to ensure the SS employees received their pay in time for the upcoming pooja holidays.
DMK leader R S Bharathi, who participated in the stir, stated that Chief Minister M K Stalin had directed him to take part and School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi assured him that the state would release the salaries by utilising its own funds by the time the protest is over.
According to officials, the state government has been covering the salaries of over 20,000 employees under the scheme since June due to a delay in the release of funds from the centre. Various associations have condemned the central government for withholding more than Rs 2,150 crore — this year’s first installment of funds for Tamil Nadu — as the state has refused to sign the MoU for setting up PM-SHRI schools citing the three-language policy involved.
Leaders from over 10 teachers’ associations spoke at the protest against the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, criticising the centre linking the release of funds to the policy’s implementation. They warned of intensified protests across the state and in Delhi if funds were not released soon. CPM leader K Balakrishnan stressed that future generations would resent the state government if it accepted the three-language policy in exchange for release of funds.
Leaders from various political parties, including VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, and over 10 teachers’ associations participated in the protest. They questioned what they termed ‘step-motherly’ treatment meted out to Tamil Nadu by the central government in providing disaster relief and infrastructure funding apart from the Samagra Shiksha funds.