Jr teachers take out morcha

MUMBAI, November 30: The Mumbai Junior College Teachers Union (MJCTU) today observed a one-day token strike to press for their demand for...

MUMBAI, November 30: The Mumbai Junior College Teachers Union (MJCTU) today observed a one-day token strike to press for their demand for revised pay scales. A morcha was taken out which culminated into a meeting at Azad Maidan.

The strike was a kind of dress rehearsal for the indefinite strike called by the Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers’ Organisations (MFJCTO) from December 10. Similar morchas were taken out all over the state today. The MFJCTO has around 35,000 members spread over 1,400 colleges. The Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union (BUCTU) is

also supporting the strike and will hold a meeting on Thursday to decide their stance about indefinite strike.

The teachers, who have rejected the Sukthankar Committee report on the Fifth Pay Commission, are demanding revised salary rates with Rs 8,000 as the minimum pay in the basic scale and Rs 10,000 in the senior scale. As against this, the state government has decided to pay a minimum salary of Rs 6,500 in the basic scale andRs 7,500 in the senior scale.

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The teachers have also demanded a selection grade pay, with a minimum salary of Rs 12,000. This category has not been created by the state government as of now.

With exams scheduled to be held shortly, the timing of the strike has drawn much flak. The MJCTU, however, claims that the strike had become essential as the government would not heed to their demands otherwise. As far as the students were concerned, A J Singh, MJCTU president, said extra classes could be held after the strike to make up for the time lost.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Underprivileged Teachers’ Association (MUPTA) has decided to boycott the strike on the ground that MJCTU’s demands were not in the interest of reserved category teachers.