Teachers8217; strike begins

VADODARA, June 18: Nearly 5,500 secondary schools and 2,000 higher-secondary schools were closed on Thursday morning as 1.5 lakh teachers we...

VADODARA, June 18: Nearly 5,500 secondary schools and 2,000 higher-secondary schools were closed on Thursday morning as 1.5 lakh teachers went on strike demanding the implementation of pay scales recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission.

According to a statement issued by the Gujarat State Teachers8217; Association Coordination Committee president Naran Patel, the strike and total lock-out received unprecedented support from all quarters. The group on dharna at the Ch 5 circle in Gandhinagar included principals and teachers of secondary and higher secondary schools from all over the state.

Five members of the committee 8212; K A Butani from Bhavnagar, Kanubhai Hirpara from Ahmedabad, Navin Bhavsar from Nadiad, Bhagwat Lal Prajapati from Gandhinagar, and Jagdish Bhatt from Ahmedabad 8212; also began a fast unto death on Thursday.

In response to the strike, Chief Secretary L N S Mukundan called a meeting of senior officers of the education department, including the additional chief secretary, education, to discuss the contentious issue.

8220;The deadlock still persists. I hope something will be done in a couple of days,8221; said State Education Minister Anandiben Patel. The government, meanwhile, would continue talking with the representatives of the teachers, she added.

The agitating group will gather outside the Income Tax Building and Gandhinagar Ch 5 for ramdhun on Thursday, while every district coordination committee will gather outside their respective collectors8217; office to register protests.

Meanwhile, 5,000 striking teachers and principals staged a seven-hour sit-in in front of the District Education Office at Kothi, Vadodara. They will continue doing so everyday till their pending demands are met, they said.The strike call has been issued by the City-Zilla Shaikshanik Sangh Sankalan Samiti, whose convener Ashwin Shah said the plans for strengthening the strike had been finalised on Thursday.

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If the Centre could look into the demands of 20,000 nurses, then why couldn8217;t the State government consider the demands of 100,000 teachers of the state, he asked, alleging that not just this government, but even the prior one had paid no heed to their demands.

The Fifth Pay Commission report, when implemented will make a difference of Rs 500 in the basic salary of secondary school teachers and Rs 1000 for its principals. For Higher Secondary, it will be Rs 1,000 and 3,500 respectively.The principals of prominent schools who have decided to support the strike are militant. 8220;This is not our first step. We have been agitating for the last six months but the chief minister had asked for more time so we gave in8221; said Raghubir Nayak, principal Diwan Balubhai School, Kankaria.