Unaided school teachers protest at Azad Maidan; police foil suicide attempt

A protest gathering at Azad Maidan on Wednesday nearly turned violent when one of the teachers allegedly attempted suicide. He was arrested by the police.

Police said Khanderao Jagdale (40) poured kerosene that he was carrying in a water bottle over himself around 3.30 pm and was about to light a match when he was stopped by officers. Jagdale was charged with attempt to suicide under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code.

“We are left with no option but to intensify our stir. By Thursday,if the state government does not take up the issue in the Assemby session or fails to come up with a solution,we will have to take the drastic step of locking 750 SSC exam centres allotted in unaided schools across the state,” said Prashant Redij,president,Maharashtra State Permanently Unaided Schools Action Committee (MSPUSAC).

On Tuesday,MSPUSAC,which represents over 65,000 teachers,had announced a protest at Azad Maidan against alleged exploitation by private schools,having earlier decided to boycott evaluation duty during the ongoing SSC exams. MSPUSAC has demanded salary and non-salary grants to be paid to their schools in order to facilitate free education under the Right to Education Act 2009 and allow for increase in their salaries. Jagdale,who hails from Kolhapur,was part of a group of 15-20 teachers who had threatened suicide.

“On Wednesday,15 teachers tried to immolate themselves. Jagdale was standing close to the police and was caught,” he said.

“Jagdale had threatened to commit suicide in one of four places – Azad Maidan,Varsha Bungalow,Malabar Hill or Mantralaya. When he turned up at Azad Maidan,we kept a watch on him and nabbed him as soon as he poured kerosene over himself,” said Krishna Prakash,Additional Commissioner of Police (South region).