Teachers hold state-level strike

The Maharashtra State Federation of Junior College Teachers' Organisation (MSFJCTO) on Friday held a state-level strike with teachers in Mumbai protesting at Azad Maidan and teachers across the state protested outside their district education office. Later they carried out a 'jail bharo' agitation in solidarity. In case their demands are not met, the teachers have threatened to boycott the HSC board exams.

Nearly 72,000 teachers across the state and around 3,000 in Mumbai participated in the strike. However, nor the ongoing practical exams or students were affected.

MSFJCTO has been protesting for the past three years with a total of 32 demands. Some of them include a pension scheme for teachers who joined after November 1, 2005, aid for teachers working in unaided institutions, approval on the appointment of teachers working from May 2, 2012 which has delayed their salaries.

Anil Deshmukh, general secretary of the Mumbai Junior College Teachers' Union, said, "If our demands aren't met, we will strengthen our protest. We decided to hold a protest but not inconvenience students."