Despite having issued a Government Order in January 2021, the Tamil Nadu Higher Education Department has not implemented the career advancement scheme (CAS) benefits due to the teachers of government-aided colleges. In protest against the delay on the part of the government, college teachers observed a Statewide fast on Thursday.
Leading the agitation held at Palanganatham by the members of the Association of University Teachers—Madurai Kamaraj, Manonmaniam Sundaranar, Mother Teresa, Alagappa, Tamil Nadu Teachers Education and Anna University Teachers’ Association (AUT-MUTA), general secretary A.T. Senthamaraikannan said apart from clearing the arrears, the government should also withdraw all moves toward privatisation of aided colleges, and protect the institutions.
The anomalies in the pay structure for the eligible faculty members had not been rectified and professor-level promotion under the CAS had not been implemented by the government. “When Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has been instructing the officials to implement the G.O., the non-execution showed the slackness of the authorities,” he said.
The recent amendments made by the Higher Education Department to certain G.O.s too showed that the government was inclined to encourage private universities to step in. This might not only dilute the objectives of the department, but also pave way for commercialisation of higher education campuses, he added.
Mr. Senthamaraikannan said the government, though promised to rectify the disparities in the pay structure, had done nothing tangible till date. The promotions, increments and restructuring of pay too had been kept in abeyance. The government’s decision had led to severe hardships to the teachers, he added.
Various speakers at the agitation said their patience could not be tested forever and demanded an ultimatum from the government soon. Any further delay might lead to teachers intensifying their strike in the coming months, they stressed.
AUT-MUTA office-bearers, including Robert Diliban K. Prabakaran, S. Ramesh Raj and A. Wilson Baskar, addressed the gathering. N. Gnaneswaran proposed a vote of thanks.