Several political leaders cutting across party lines have come out in support of the agitation by government-aided school teachers demanding release of pay arrears of over 10 months.
Over 200 teachers stayed put at the police community hall in Gorimedu on Tuesday. The teachers had been brought here on Monday after being arrested by the police while taking out a march to the Raj Nivas under the banner of the Puducherry Government Aided School Teachers and Employees Federation.
Meanwhile, Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi has scheduled a meeting with the Director and the Secretary of School Education to resolve the issue.
Among those who addressed the protesters were Deputy Speaker M.N.R. Balan, K. Lakshminarayanan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister, and A. John Kumar, MLA of the Congress, A. Anbalagan (AIADMK) and N.S.J. Jayabal (AINRC).
T.R. Seshaachalam, general secretary of the Puducherry Government Aided School Teachers and Employees Federation, said the blocking of the pay was owing to a misunderstanding among authorities. The fee fixation committee headed by a former Judge of the Madras High Court in 2017, while stipulating a cap on tuition fees after accounting all running cost expenses, had specifically stated that this did not include salaries or pensions of aided teachers.
Besides, since 2013, the salaries and pension of aided teachers was being released directly to the beneficiaries as government grants and was not in any manner channelled through the managements, he pointed out. “Somehow, authorities got the wrong impression by linking tuition fees and teachers’ pay,” Mr. Seshaachalam added.
