Leaders of Andhra Pradesh Teachers Federation (Registered number 1938) on Sunday (October 29) staged a protest at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada, demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme.
Taking exception to what they called the “autocratic” stand of the State government, they said teachers and employees in the State were betrayed by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who promised them the reinstatement of old pension scheme during the elections, but went back on his word after his party assumed power in the State.
They said the teaching fraternity was at the receiving end of the government apathy. They were denied timely salaries and proper medical and health facilities but burdened with non-teaching duties.
They also demanded the repeal of GP 117 on merger of schools, arguing that it would deprive children from marginalised communities of education.
State-wide protest
Leaders of the APTF (older unit) have called for a State-wide protest on November 15 to build pressure on the government for payment of arrears under different heads.
In a statement on Sunday, federation State president Ch. Manjula and general secretary K. Bhanu Murthy said government employees and teachers across the State were awaiting payment of the pending five instalments of dearness allowances and arrears pending for 149 months under 11th PRC.
They said a decision to this effect was taken at a federation’s State sub-committee meeting held in Vijayawada on Sunday. The proposed protest on November 15 would also highlight other key issues such as restoration of the old pension scheme and issues faced by staff in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, Model Schools among others.
The meeting was attended by federation vice-resident A. Syamsundar Reddy, K. Ashok Kumar and T. Trinadh, secretaries B.A. Solmon Raju, Syed Chand Basha, B. Raghu Babu, N. Ravi Kumar and others.
