The indefinite hunger strike launched by the State leaders of the A.P. United Teachers’ Federation (UTF) in support of their demand for restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) entered the second day on October 19.
The State committee leaders said they would not accept either the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) or the Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) formulated by the State government as an alternative to the OPS.
They sought implementation of the OPS for the teachers whose appointment process had been completed before 2004 but were given the appointment letters after September 1 in 2004.
They said the government employees, teachers and the public at large would vote for the party that would bring back the OPS in the ensuing general elections and demanded that political parties spell out their stand on the pension issue.
Referring to the government’s claim that implementation of the OPS would result in an economic crisis in the State, the federation leaders demanded that the government release a White Paper on the economic conditions in the State.
Stating that the choice was between doing a favour to the corporate sector by implementing the CPS and supporting the government employees by bringing back the OPS, the federation leaders said it was for the government to take a call on it.
Meanwhile, sources said a dip in the blood sugar levels of the 10 UTF leaders who had started their hunger strike at the federation office on October 18 was a cause for concern.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao extended the party’s support to the teachers’ cause. He said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had promised to restore the OPS during his padayatra in the State, should fulfil his promise now.
