Guest teachers working for the Delhi Government staged a satyagrah in front of the state Education Minister Manish Sisodia’s house on 31st July, under the banner of the Delhi Guest Teachers Union. The teachers banged empty plates to reflect their protest that their demands have not been fulfilled. The teachers had vowed that they would not budge from there till the minister met with them.
All the teachers at the rally raised slogans in support of their demands. They held placards with slogans registering their demands. Among them were, “the chains of Rs.800 are not able to restrain us, we have come with our sister teachers on the streets”, :Sisodiaji, keep your promises. Take back the teachers you have removed”, “this is the demand of guest teachers, we want our salaries set this time”, “our choice will be satyagrah, we will be liberated from daily wages”, “teachers’ unity will establish history, we must march together if we want to achieve our aim”, “we must sit in satyagrahto get our wages set”, “we must get liberated from our daily wage, we are determined to get our wages set”!
The guest teachers’ representative, Dr. Racha told MazdoorEkta Lehar that the guest teachers had repeatedly raised their demands and sought a discussion, but the Delhi government has turned a deaf ear and not fulfilled its promises. Even on 17th July, they held a peaceful demonstration in front of the Education Minister’s house following which, Delhi government representative SanjivJha had promised a circular in writing on the demands of the guest teachers to be issued by 24th July.
The representatives of Delhi Teachers Union had forewarned the government that if the 24th July deadline is not met, then they would launch their satyagrahawith plates and ladles on 31st July in front of the Education Minister’s house. At that time, the government representative had assured them that there would be no need for them to come again. But in this period, there has been written notice on the demands raised by the teachers.
The teachers’ protest and their anger forced the Education Minister to come to them. He conceded that their demands were very just, but there are some technical issues regarding their demands, which would take some time to be sorted out. The teachers were not convinced with his response and decided that they would remain there till they got a satisfactory response.
When the teachers remained determined, the Minister called a meeting in his house, at which the Secretary Education, Pravin Deshmukh and the Minister talked to all the Education Ministry officials. Right after that meeting, Pravin Deshmukh met with the guest teachers on behalf of the government and responded to all their questions. He asked that the government be given two months to fulfil the teachers’ demands, which the teachers agreed with.
At the same time, the guest teachers warned the government that they would launch a non-cooperation strike if their demand for fixed salary was not met within the two months.
Representatives of the Delhi Guest Teachers Union – Avdesh Kumar, Madan Mohan Bhaskar, Ramashankar and others addressed the meeting. In conclusion, the leaders informed the teachers of their tactics for the coming period and announced the suspension of the strike till the end of two months by which time the government had promised to take action.