CHENNAI: Thousands of secondary grade teachers, who staged statewide protests on Friday demanding equal pay for equal work, were detained by the police, with around 2,000 protesters allegedly held across 13 wedding halls in Chennai.
The protest, organised by the Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers’ Association (SSTA), witnessed hundreds gathering at different venues, particularly the Perasiriyar Anbazhagan Education Complex, in Chennai.
According to the teachers’ association, many secondary grade teachers presently receive a monthly salary of Rs 20,600, which they claimed is among the lowest in the country for the category. More than 20,000 teachers across the state are affected by the pay anomaly, they said.
The teachers said that the DMK, in its election manifesto, had promised to address the long-standing pay disparity among secondary grade teachers by fixing salaries based on their date of appointment. However, the assurance is yet to be fulfilled, they said.
One of the protesting teachers said, “We chose to protest during the half-yearly holidays so that the students are not affected. We are merely asking the DMK government to honour its poll promise. This time, we will not withdraw our protest until our demand is met, even if schools reopen.”
The teachers said that talks were held with the officials from the school education department at the secretariat on Friday. As no consensus was reached, the protest will continue, they added.
Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami condemned the DMK government for detaining the protesting teachers, accusing it of displaying “fascist tendencies” after failing to fulfil its poll promise for more than four years.
PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said the list of the DMK government’s betrayals was only growing longer. “The DMK government’s unleashing of political repression against teachers who are merely protesting for their rights is highly condemnable,” he said.