Around 33,000 teachers and government employees, who have been on an indefinite strike for over a week, temporarily suspended their protests in Tamil Nadu on Friday after the Madras High Court asked them to resume their work by 2pm. Protests had been taking place in different parts of Tamil Nadu demanding a pay revision and the revival of the old pension scheme.
Speaking to TNM, M Anbarasu, General Secretary, Tamil Nadu Government Employees’ Association said, “We have suspended the protests till September 21. We will continue our protests if our demands are not met by the government,” he said.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court was hearing a petition filed by advocate Sekharan seeking a stay on the protests led by JACTO- GEO (Joint Action Council of Teachers Organisations - Government Employees Organisations).
The Bench comprising Justice KK Sasidharan and Justice GR Swaminathan had on September 8 stayed the protests by government employees and teachers, observing that the public should not face hardship and that the entire education system would be affected by the strike. However, JACTO-GEO defied orders and continued protesting.
Following this, Shekharan filed another petition condemning JACTO-GEO for not following the court order. The president and two other members of JACTO-GEO were asked to appear before the court on Friday.
JACTO-GEO members informed the High Court on Friday that the state government did not accept any of their demands in the past year. Following this, the bench directed the Chief Secretary to appear before the court on September 21.
Earlier, the state government had informed the Madras High Court that 33,884 teachers were part of the protests by government employee union and their boycott of classes and absence will be considered unauthorized.
Meanwhile, actor Kamal Haasan on Friday responded to the court’s order by tweeting, “The honourable court warns teachers on strike. I beseech the court to issue similar warnings to those MLAs who desist from attending work.” He also took a jibe at the AIADMK MLAs supporting TTV Dhinakaran who were lodged at a resort in Coorg, tweeting, “No work no pay only for Govt. Employees?. How about horse trading politicians languishing in resorts?”