AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has lashed out at the Tamil Nadu government over the alleged house arrest of leaders from the Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers Association (SSTA). Taking to X on Monday, the former Chief Minister demanded their immediate release and accused the DMK administration of using "heavy-handed tactics" to suppress a peaceful protest.
The teachers have been on the warpath for 17 days, demanding "equal pay for equal work." According to EPS, eight individuals, including the SSTA’s top executives, have been confined to their homes since Sunday morning. He further claimed that their mobile phones were confiscated and switched off, effectively cutting them off from the outside world.
"The puppet Chief Minister’s government just doesn't know how to handle a protest in a just manner," Palaniswami said, adding, "Denying them basic rights to use their cell phones is a new low in governance." The government will be held responsible for whatever happens to people who are currently in detention, he said.
At the heart of this standoff is a long-standing pay dispute dating back to 2009. The teachers claim that those hired after June 1, 2009, receive significantly less basic pay than their colleagues recruited just a day earlier. What started as a ₹3,170 gap has reportedly ballooned to nearly ₹9,000 over the years. With the DMK having promised to fix this anomaly in their election manifesto, the SSTA is now holding them to that pledge, though the government’s response so far has clearly touched a political nerve.
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