Teachers’ unions held a mass hunger strike at Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad on Saturday, demanding changes to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, restoration of the Old Pension Scheme and urgent recruitment to vacant teaching posts in Telangana government schools.
The protest was organised by the Telangana State United Teachers Federation (TSUTF) on the call of the School Teachers Federation of India (STFI). TSUTF president Chava Ravi alleged that provisions of the NEP were making education less accessible to poorer sections and contributing to the closure of thousands of schools. The allegations were made at the protest camp and were reported by Deccan Chronicle.
Ravi also questioned the Congress-led Telangana government’s decision to implement the NEP, arguing that the party had opposed the policy while in the Opposition. The unions’ position reflects a wider dispute over how national education reforms are being applied through state school systems, including their effects on school viability, teacher deployment and access for low-income families.
The teachers demanded exemption from the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test for in-service teachers appointed before the Right to Education Act came into effect. They also called for the scrapping of the National Pension System and the Unified Pension Scheme, with a return to the Old Pension Scheme.
A major part of the protest focused on government-school administration. The unions sought the merger and closure of state-run schools to be reconsidered, filling of all vacant teaching posts and amendment of Government Order 25, issued on August 12, 2021, which they said had harmed primary schools. They further demanded that teachers be restricted to teaching duties rather than being assigned unrelated administrative responsibilities.
The unions also sought regularisation of temporary and contract teachers, along with social security benefits, minimum wages and equal pay for contract staff working in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, urban residential schools and other institutions. These demands highlight the different employment conditions within the public education system, where permanent teachers, temporary staff and contract workers perform related functions under separate service arrangements.
On pay and employee benefits, the protesters demanded implementation of the Eighth Central Pay Commission recommendations and Telangana’s second Pay Revision Commission report. They also sought the release of pending dearness allowance instalments and bills, proper implementation of the New Employees Health Scheme and its extension to teachers across managements.
TSUTF general secretary A. Venkat presided over the hunger strike. Representatives of the Joint Action Committee, Telangana Gazetted Officers’ Association, Telangana All Pensioners and Retired Persons’ Association and the Central Government Employees Federation visited the protest and expressed solidarity. Those who attended included JAC secretary-general Eluri Srinivasa Rao, TGO general secretary B. Shyam, TAPRA general secretary P. Krishnamurthy and Central Government Employees Federation general secretary Aziz.
Hundreds of teachers and TSUTF office-bearers from several districts participated in the protest. The report did not specify any immediate response from the Telangana government or a timeline for considering the unions’ demands.
