SRINAGAR, May 8: Just a day after the secretariat resumed business in the summer capital Srinagar, government-run schools across the state have shut down as teachers are on a two-day strike demanding for regularisation of their pay grade and promotion for their under-graduate trained colleagues.
“We will be on strike from May 8 and 9 to press for the demands of regularisation of head masters, lecturers and other teaching staff in their own pay and grade and also overdue promotion of under graduate trained teachers in the state”, All Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh Teacher’s Federation (AJKLTF) President Balwan Singh Jamwal told reporters.
“Inspite of repeated memorandums, government failed to promote the under graduate trained teachers working in the education department after 2004”, he said.
However, a breakaway faction of union have decided to sit on a hunger strike instead.
“Hartal (shutdown) is not the right policy. A Common man should not suffer. If we shutdown schools to demand our rights, only a poor student will suffer,” said Nazir Ahmad, chairman of the Teachers’ Welfare Association and member of the breakaway group said.
Over 4.5 lakh state government employees will be observing a day-long strike across the state today and have plans of gheraoing the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar tommorow (May 9), to demand an increse in the retirement age of employees from 58 to 60 years and regularisation of contractual employees.
