Tirupati: Municipal teachers on protest path

Tirupati: Demanding solution to the long-pending demands of teachers working in municipal schools across the state, United Teachers Federation (UTF) organised state-wide dharnas on Friday. As part of it, the members of the union staged a dharna at the municipal corporation office here as well.

They have been demanding powers like drawing and disbursing, sanctioning of increments, pay fixations, leaves and others to headmasters as they are in gazetted cadre. They want GPF facility for all teachers working in municipal schools and upgradation of secondary grade posts as school assistant posts along with pandit and PET posts. Promotions should be given on a regular basis.

By releasing a schedule before the commencement of each academic year, teachers transfers should be completed. The UTF also demanded start of Plus 2 courses in all municipal high schools having above 500 students.

They pointed out that a huge sum of arrears was due to thousands of teachers and even retired teachers have not able to get them. The anomalies in service rules have to be removed and the appeals are to be resolved. Though the number of students are increasing in municipal schools due to increasing urbanisation, new schools are not being established and no steps were taken to fill the vacancies.

MLC Y Srinivasulu Reddy visited the dharna programme and expressed solidarity with the teachers. Addressing the teachers, he said that previous governments had neglected the teachers' service matters and demanded the current government to resolve them immediately.

UTF state general secretary K S S Prasad called for sanction of urban education officer post in all municipalities on par with MEO posts and deputy DEO cadre post in municipal corporations and these should be included in service rules. Later, the leaders met Tirupati municipal corporation commissioner P S Girisha and submitted a representation to him.

State audit committee member S S Naidu, district UTF president K Muthyala Reddy, vice-president D Nirmala, Padmaja, Madhusudan Reddy, Munirathnam, Kavitha and other leaders have taken part in the protest.