Members of the Joint Action Council for Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisations (JACTTO-GEO) have proposed to donate a day’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund towards the cyclone Michaung relief work.
M. Anbarasu, state coordinator of JACTTO-GEO, announced the decision here on Thursday, December 14, 2023. However, it did not mean that the JAC had postponed its proposed siege of Fort St. George, the seat of Tamil Nadu government, on December 28, he added.
On that day, as many as five lakh government employees from across the State would participate in the protest at the secretariat demanding to meet the Chief Minister, he said. “If the CM refuses to meet us we will lay siege to the Fort,” Mr. Anbarasu said.
The issue is that the CM had assured them that he would not deny them their rights and listen to their demands, but he had not done so.
JACTTO-GEO’s demands include reinstatement of the old pension scheme, compensation for the earned leave the employees had surrendered, and teachers’ appointments that have been pending for several years now.
In 2020, the then State government had suspended the periodical surrender of earned leave for a year citing financial stress due to COVID-19. The suspension was extended till March 30, 2022. “We surrendered our leave but we did not get our benefits,” Mr. Anbarsu pointed out.
The JACTTO-GEO members say they had repeatedly approached the Finance department but had not received a positive response.
The members said their protest would not hamper the work in government offices.
