AMARAVATI: Government school teachers protested in front of district collectorates across the state demanding immediate rollback of new pay scales announced by the state government.
About three lakh school teachers participated in the protests in all the districts. Most of the associations hit the streets in response to the call given by the Federation of AP Teachers' Organisations (FAPTO). "This is just a token of our anger. We will intensify the agitation if the government did not make a retreat," said Municipal Teachers' Federation (MTF) president Somarauthu Ramakrishna.
Teachers' unions demanded that the government should immediately withdraw the new pay scales announced two days ago. The protesters alleged the government deceived them with a false promise.
'Suspend all GOs issued in breach of agreement'
We have not seen pay scales getting reversed on the lines of reverse tendering system. We will not remain silent, said FAPTO president Hridaya Raju.
Amaravati JAC chairman Bopparaju Venkateswarlu and AP NGOs association president Bandi Srinivasa Rao extended their solidarity to the teachers' agitation. They said the government should suspend all GOs issued in violation of the agreement made with them.
The employees are angry with the government for reducing HRA slabs and removal of city compensatory allowance (CCA), which would result in a pay cut. The employees' associations declared that they would not accept any of the GOs issued by the government with regard to the new pay-scales.
"We will not accept this PRC. We demand immediate rollback of the GOs," said Ramakrishna. He said MTF launched state-wide protest against the PRC GOs by attending the schools by sporting black badges.
Police kept many of the teachers' union leaders under house arrest in the early hours of Thursday in order to prevent them mobilising the agitators. However, hundreds of teachers thronged the district collectorates without worrying about Covid-19 spread and participated in the protest.
The teachers deplored the arrest and preventive detention of their leaders in various districts and demanded immediate release.
