On Thursday (29 December 2022), as the Tamil Nadu government school secondary-grade (SG) teachers’ hunger strike entered its third day, school education secretary Kakarla Usha met with the teachers who refused to end the protest and remained steadfast in their demand for a salary hike.
Thousands of teachers are protesting on the DPI campus, demanding equal pay for equal work. Their union claimed that over 20,000 SG teachers hired after June 2009 were paid ₹3,170 less than those hired before May 31, 2009. The pay gap widened even more after the implementation of the seventh pay commission.
On December 27, around 3,500 Secondary Grade Teachers (SGTs) began an indefinite hunger strike outside the Directorate of School Education, urging Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to keep his election promise of equal pay for equal work.
The statement from J Robert, general secretary of the Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers’ Association (SSTA) read,” It is 20 months since the DMK came to power and despite our efforts, our one demand has not been fulfilled. Therefore, we are once again holding a rigorous indefinite hunger strike.”
In 2018, the SSTA went on indefinite strike in a similar manner, and the then-opposition leader and the current chief minister MK Stalin supported their protest. Stalin then demanded that the then-ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) resolve the issue immediately.
According to the SSTA press release,”The Supreme Court has ruled in several cases that people in the same position and doing the same job should be paid equally for equal work. However, neither the previous AIADMK government nor the current DMK government followed this.”
The press release further stated,” SGTs were affected when the seventh pay commission was implemented. Those appointed after May 31, 2009, are paid ₹3,170 lesser than those appointed on or prior to the mentioned date. However, there is no difference in their educational qualifications and work requirements.”
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