Hundreds of teachers in districts across the State hit the roads demanding immediate withdrawal of the GOs on the new pay revision, released by the government.
Teachers, in response to a call given by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Organisations (FAPTO), a conglomeration of many teacher unions, headed to the Collectorates to participate in the demonstrations but they were prevented by the police personnel who arrested them on their way to the protest venues and shifted them to police stations.
At Machilipatnam all routes leading to the Collectorate were barricaded up to a distance of 500 meters. Almost all streets were filled with the sloganeering demonstrators and the police started arresting them from different points from 8.30 a.m. In some districts, teacher leaders and others were detained at their homes.
Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Federation president K. Bhanu Murthy and general secretary P. Panduranga Varaprasad strongly condemned the “undemocratic” arrests of teachers. “We are being prevented from making our voice heard. Even the women teachers are being dragged and bundled into police vans,” said Mr. Varaprasad.
He said contrary to the Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma’s claim on considerable dip in the State revenues, the CAG report states that the revenue has gone up. “What was Pay Revision Committee in the past has been turned into a ‘Pay Reversion Committee’ now,” he said, alleging that the Chief Secretary’s press conference called to pacify the employees was “full of lies”.
The leaders said teachers’ federation and the employees JACs, which had also called for a State-wide protest on Friday, would collectively protest against the government move. “If the government failed to take into consideration our demands, we would not hesitate to intensify and escalate it into an indefinite protest,” he said.
