The indefinite strike called by sections of State government employees and school teachers on Tuesday evoked a mixed response in Tamil Nadu.
The primary objective of the strike, called by the Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Organisations and Government Employees’ Organisations (Jactto-Geo), is to make the government reinstate the conventional scheme of pension for government employees.
In Chennai, it was a case of business as usual at the Secretariat, as the Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association (Tansa) chose not to join the strike. A couple of other “recognised unions” were not part of the agitations. However, substantial numbers of employees were reported absent at complexes of government offices such as ‘Ezhilagam’ and ‘Kuralagam’. A demonstration took place near the Ezhilagam at Chepauk. There were reports of some employees having joined the protest after reporting to work.
In some government schools, students found that there were no teachers, and went home after a couple of hours.
Other parts of the State had a different story to tell.
Some offices at the Tiruchi Collectorate wore a deserted look. In Vellore district, schools had been abandoned by teachers. In the town, thousands of protesters staged a demonstration near Anna Kalai Arangam. Coimbatore city and surrounding areas saw demonstrations. In Erode and Udhagamandalam, a majority of the staff were reported absent.
Among southern districts, the impact of the strike was visible in Tirunelveli, with over 90% of government employees and 70% of teachers of government and aided schools abstaining from work. Across the region, many primary schools had to be closed or kept open with just anganwadi or noon meal workers in attendance.
“The overall response has exceeded our expectations. As per our estimate, five lakh employees joined the strike,” said Jactto-Geo State coordinator M. Anbarasu.
Acknowledging that the situation in Chennai was different, he said, “This was how it was in the past too. In 1988, the strike went on for 31 days, and the staff in Chennai joined [it] only on the 20th day.”
Govt. dismisses figures
Dismissing the figures given by the Jactto-Geo functionary, a government official said those who did not report for duty accounted for 20%-23% of employees.
However, the official acknowledged that 40% of elementary school teachers were absent.
As of now, there was no indication of the agitating employees being called for talks to end the strike as the government had considered all their issues and explained its stand, the official added.
(With inputs from S. Annamalai in Madurai, T. Madhavan in Vellore, R. Krishnamoorthy in Tiruchi, Karthik Madhavan in Coimbatore, S.P. Saravanan in Erode and Rohan Premkumar in Udhagamandalam)