Protests by secondary-grade teachers demanding “equal pay for equal work” intensified in Chennai on Tuesday, 30 December 2025, with police detaining more than 1,500 teachers as the agitation entered its fifth consecutive day.
The protest, organised by the Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers Association (SSTDA), has been underway since 26 December 2025. On Tuesday, hundreds of teachers assembled near Dr Ambedkar Government Higher Secondary School in Egmore, while others gathered outside the District Education Office in the same locality. Many protesters were accompanied by their family members, including children.
According to the teachers, the pay disparity dates back to June 1, 2009. Teachers appointed before that date were placed on a basic pay of ₹8,370, while those appointed on or after the cut-off were fixed at ₹5,200, despite having identical qualifications and performing the same duties. Over the years, the gap has widened to ₹25,000–₹30,000 in monthly salaries, they said, placing Tamil Nadu among the states with the lowest pay for secondary-grade teachers.
Several teachers alleged that police stopped groups of educators arriving by train at railway stations. One protesting teacher told The New Indian Express, “Police apprehend us at railway stations when groups of teachers arrive by train. To avoid this, many of us brought our families to the protest. Because we decided to become teachers, our children are also suffering with us.”
During the protest, several teachers reportedly fainted and were taken to hospitals. Police later detained the protesters and housed them in around 15 wedding halls across the city. A woman teacher alleged that basic facilities were denied during detention. “We were not provided food or water to prevent us from returning to the protests in the coming days. Women teachers have been the worst affected by this pay disparity, and since many of them participated in large numbers, several suffered without food or water,” she said.
SSTDA General Secretary J. Robert said the association would continue its agitation until the demand was met. He described the repeated detentions as humiliating and said the government’s approach was forcing teachers towards more intense forms of protest. He also appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene and resolve what he described as a long-pending and legitimate grievance.
Meanwhile, Makkal Kalvi Kootiyakkam, a teachers’ collective in Madurai, urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to immediately address the demands. In a statement, the organisation condemned the use of police force against protesting teachers and accused the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government of going back on assurances made in its 2021 election manifesto.
Police sources said arrangements for repeated detentions had cost the department up to ₹3 lakh so far. Despite the arrests, teacher associations warned that protests would continue in the coming days unless a clear assurance on pay parity was given by the government.
Source: Hindu Tamil
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