Tension prevails at Assembly as government school teachers stage rally

Hyderabad: Tension prevailed at the Telangana Assembly on the last day of the monsoon session on Tuesday as thousands of government schools teachers marched from Sundarayya Vignana Bhavan, Bagh Lingampally to Assembly demanding the State government fulfill their demands like promotions and transfers which are pending since 2014, recruiting scavengers and teaching staff in Government schools.

Many teachers were taken into custody during the rally. According to the government schoolteachers, the State government turned a blind eye to all the teachers' problems.

M Ravinder, general secretary, Telangana Progressive Teachers Federation (TPTF), said, "We held a rally from Sundarayya Vignana Bhavan to the Assembly chanting slogans for about one kilometer. Many protestors were also taken into custody during the protest. This is not the first time that we staged a protest. Even after giving many representations to the State government, no step has been taken to recruit teachers in government schools. The schedule of teacher transfers and promotions of all employers including government, Zilla Parishad, Mandal Parishad, model schools and ashram schools has been pending since years," added Ravinder.

Jangaiah, a government schoolteacher protesting in the rally said, "Even after submitting a representation to the Education department two months back to fill vacant posts in government schools, no action has been taken. Around 1,000 headmaster posts are vacant in high schools, 2,000 HM posts in primary schools, 7,500 school assistant posts are vacant and promotions are also pending. The Education department claims that textbooks and uniforms have been distributed to all the schools, but many schools ae yet to receive books and uniform."

"In the past, many protests and rallies were organised but no concrete measure have been taken by the State government. As part of the Chalo Assembly, under Upadhyaya Sanghala Porata Committee (USPC) we staged a protest but many teachers were arrested and taken to Ghosha Mahal Police Station. It will be better if the State government resolves our demands and immediately take up transfers, provide promotions, cancel the new pension system and introduce the old pension system, appoint service persons in schools and give immediate justice to the teachers who have lost their permanent locality with GO 317," said T Ravi, a government school teacher.