Teachers protest against delayed salaries, non-academic duties

The statewide agitation was led by the Maharashtra State Shikshak Sena under the leadership of MLC J M Abhyankar, reflecting the growing anger among educators

MUMBAI: Teachers across the state staged protests at various education department offices on Thursday, raising multiple demands, with the delay in March salaries emerging as the central issue. The salaries, expected to be credited on April 1, have not been released for several teachers after some schools failed to complete the mandatory staff authentication process under the new rules. The teachers questioned why they were being penalised for administrative lapses beyond their control.

Apart from salary delays, teachers highlighted issues such as long-pending dues ranging from two to six years, accommodation of surplus teachers within the same city and exemption from non-academic duties (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

The statewide agitation was led by the Maharashtra State Shikshak Sena under the leadership of MLC J M Abhyankar, reflecting the growing anger among educators. In Mumbai, a major protest was held in Jogeshwari, where hundreds of teachers gathered to raise slogans demanding immediate release of salaries and clearance of pending dues.

Addressing the gathering, Abhyankar said, “It is a matter of grave concern that teachers are compelled to take to the streets to demand their rightful salaries. The government must immediately resume salary payments and clear all pending dues, otherwise this agitation will be further intensified.”

Apart from salary delays, teachers highlighted issues such as long-pending dues ranging from two to six years, accommodation of surplus teachers within the same city and exemption from non-academic duties. Many also opposed the government’s assigning teachers election-related work such as BLO duties, arguing that it disrupted academic responsibilities and violated existing court rulings and the provisions of the Right to Education Act.

Memorandums were submitted to officials in different regions. In Mumbai’s western zone, a representation was handed over to deputy education officer Dharmendra Naik while in the northern zone, political leaders such as Jalinder Sarode submitted their demands to superintendent Bhakti Gore, urging immediate government intervention.

The teachers also raised concerns over delays in grant approvals, rejection of funding proposals, and the lapse of large amounts of allocated funds due to administrative inaction. They demanded a review of decisions taken under service rules, alleging that arbitrary actions by authorities had affected thousands of livelihoods.

The protestors further pointed to issues such as forced student verification during examination time, delays in correcting staffing approvals, and pending salaries of night school teachers. They warned that if the government failed to address these demands promptly, the movement would be intensified in the days to come.