The month-long nation-wide ‘rath yatra’ embarked upon by leaders of All-India Primary Teachers’ Federation (AIPTF) on September 5 demanding restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), will enter Chittoor town in the State on September 15.
At a press conference here on Friday, Andhra Pradesh Primary Teachers’ Association (APPTA) general secretary K. Prakasa Rao said the rath yatra will arrive in Chittoor between 11.45 a.m. to 1 p.m. The next destination would be Anantapur where the leaders would stay overnight before moving to Kurnool. From there, the yatra would head towards Telangana via Jogulamba Kshetram, said Mr. Rao.
Informing that rath yatras were flagged off simultaneously from four different destinations, Somnath in Gujarat, Attari border in Amritsar in Punjab, Guwahati in Assam and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Rao said the yatras would culminate in a meeting at Talkatora stadium in Delhi on October 5 that marks International Teachers’ Day.
He said teachers across the country would join the yatra from their respective States.
Awareness
APPTA president Ganapathi Rao said the main objective of the yatra was to create awareness among people about the harm the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) would cause to the government employees and teachers and drum up support for restoration of the old pension scheme.
The leaders said after the Delhi meeting, the AIPTF leaders would submit copies of memoranda to the President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking abolition of CPS and restoration of the old pension scheme.