JACTTO-GEO flays govt.

MADURAI

Around 100 members of the Joint Action Committee of Tamil Nadu Teachers' Organisations - Government Employees’ Organisations (JACTTO-GEO) staged a demonstration here on Tuesday evening, condemning the State government for its ‘high-handed’ approach in handling the democratic protests announced by the association in Chennai on Tuesday.

M. Chandran, Madurai district coordinator, JACTTO-GEO, blamed the government for ‘ill-treating and oppressing’ government employees and teachers, who are the backbone of the government.

Pointing out to the stringent checks done by the police in the vehicles entering Chennai to prevent government employees from the entering the city for the protest and the preventive detentions done across the State since Monday, he said that it was unfair and unprecedented.

In Madurai city alone, police sources said that around 45 functionaries of various associations that are part of JACTTO-GEO were detained on Monday and released on Tuesday morning.

At least one group of employees from Madurai, who hired a vehicle and went to Chennai, were stopped and detained on entering Chennai.

“The arrests of the protesters, who managed to reach Chennai, on Tuesday and the harassment by the police had led to the death of one of the employees. The government is responsible for this,” he said.

The protesters here planned to conduct a demonstration inside the Collectorate premises, but were prevented by the police who closed all the gates.

Later, they staged the demonstration in the old Ramanathapuram Collectorate premises nearby.

JACTTO-GEO had announced the protest in Chennai for four of its key demands, which included replacing the new Contributory Pension Scheme with the Old Pension Scheme, payment of 21-month Seventh Pay Commission arrears, addressing anomalies in pay structure, and regularisation of pay for several section of employees like anganwadi workers.