Primary and high school teachers will be launching a three-month agitation programme starting from October 21 to urge the government to implement the recent Supreme Court order on extending facilities to teachers for the ‘non-grant’ period.
Announcing this on the sidelines of the central committee meeting of the Karnataka Madhyamika Shala Noukarara Sangha, for which he is the State president, the former Minister Basavaraj Horatti told presspersons on Wednesday that the agitation was to put pressure on the government to meet the demands of the teachers.
Mr. Horatti said the Special Leave Petition of the State government, against a High Court order that had directed the State to extend the benefits for the ‘non-grant’ period of the teachers, had been quashed by the apex court, leaving the government with no other alternative but to follow it. “But the government is dillydallying on the issue as, according to officials, it may require Rs. 1,600 crore for the purpose,” he said.
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Mr. Horatti said a delegation had met the Chief Minister and submitted a memorandum in this regard, and they were hopeful that a discussion would be initiated. “According to our calculations the amount required might be far less than what officials have projected. If they call us for discussion, we will try to work out a solution,” he said.
Mr. Horatti said teachers would begin a postcard campaign from October 21, followed by attending work wearing black badges on November 16. There would also be agitations in front of the Deputy Commissioners’ offices on October 30, followed by protests in front of the tahsildars’ offices on November 23. If the government fails to respond to our peaceful agitation, then the central committee will meet again on December 29 to chalk out the next course of action and it would be a stronger agitation then, he cautioned.