Para-teachers withdraw hunger strike after assurance from Partha

Kolkata: The para-teachers who had been agitating in the city withdrew their hunger strike on Thursday, a day after state Education minister Partha Chatterjee met them with the assurance that the government would try to find a solution to their problems.

The para-teachers had been holding their hunger strike at Central Park from November 11, demanding a pay structure with regular increments

and since November 22, 30 of them had been on an indefinite fast.

The other demands of the para-teachers are dearness allowance, medical allowance, provident fund and childcare leaves.

"We have withdrawn our 28-day hunger strike today (December 12). We are withdrawing our strike after state Education minister Partha Chatterjee assured us that he will look into our issue and meet our demands soon. If our demands not met within March next year then we will again resume our hunger strike," said Bhagirath Ghosh, the co-convener of 'Para-Teachers' Oikya Manch, the organisation spearheading the movement.

It might be mentioned that last year, the Education department had given a pay hike to nearly 22,085 para-teachers at primary level from Rs 5,954 to Rs 10,000. Similarly, for 26,585 para-teachers at the higher secondary level, the increase in pay was from Rs 8,500 to Rs 13,000.

However, the para-teachers have alleged that the salary is meagre considering the present market condition and in comparison with the salary in other professions.

"We have withdrawn our hunger strike after state Education minister Partha Chatterjee paid heed to our demands. He wanted time to look into our demands. He has understood our problems. He assured us that he will come up with a solution. During the meeting on Wednesday, he clarified our misconception that the state government is not spending money issued by the Central government," said Madhumita Banerjee, a leader of the movement.