PU teachers call off strike

The teachers decided to call off their strike after Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa assured them that their demand for equitable salaries would be met by June 30.

General Secretary of the Karnataka State PU College Lecturers’ Association (KSPUCLA) Shakeel Ahmad said on Friday that the strike had been called off “only temporarily and would be resumed if the demands were not met.”

The PU teachers had gone on strike in April, just before the evaluation of PU II examination answerscripts. They demanded that the disparity in their salaries be removed. On April 11, the protesters relented after the Department of Primary and Secondary Education promised to meet their demands within 30 days. Accordingly, a Committee, headed by G Kumar Naik, principal secretary, Primary and Secondary Education, was formed to study the pay
disparity.  

The promise was not kept even after more than two months. Hence, the teachers decided to resume their strike.

They had resolved not only to boycott the PU II supplementary examination scheduled from June 27 and the subsequent evaluation of answer scripts, but also the classes in all government, aided, and unaided colleges across the State.

The Association says as many as 30,000 teachers have supported the campaign.
On Thursday, Yeddyurappa, along with Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and Kumar Naik, held parleys with the Association.

Ahmad said Yeddyurappa appears ready to meet the demands of the teachers, but the Department of Primary and Secondary Education is “holding up” the matter. So much so that it is yet to calculate the funds required to pay equitable salaries to the teachers. If the demands are not met, the Association would decide accordingly, he said.