Staff of 197 Telangana Model Schools continued protests on Saturday over delayed salary payments, pension benefits, promotions and other long-pending service demands, with the Joint Action Committee warning of a State-level demonstration in Hyderabad on November 17 if the issues remain unresolved.
The protests entered their second day following a call by the Model Schools Joint Action Committee. Staff members held lunch-break demonstrations at schools across Telangana and wore black badges as part of the scheduled agitation.
The protest centres on the demand that salaries for Model Schools staff be paid under the 010 head of account. The JAC has also sought compassionate appointments and gratuity and family pension benefits for the families of deceased teachers.
Other demands include notional benefits for trained graduate teachers, the release of arrears linked to five pending instalments of dearness allowance and implementation of Government Order 317 to provide promotions to eligible teachers.
The demands cover both immediate payments and longer-term service conditions. Salary classification under a particular head of account concerns how expenditure is recorded and released through the government’s administrative and financial system, while the requests for pension, gratuity and compassionate appointments relate to benefits available to employees and their families.
The Model Schools JAC’s demands also point to unresolved questions over career progression. The staff have sought implementation of GO 317 for promotions and notional benefits for trained graduate teachers, indicating that the dispute involves recognition of service and eligibility as well as pending financial payments.
Model Schools form part of Telangana’s public education network and operate across the State. The scale of the protest, involving staff from 197 schools, gives the dispute an administrative dimension beyond an individual institution. Any prolonged interruption or continuing uncertainty over staff payments and service benefits could affect the functioning of schools, although the report does not specify disruption to classroom teaching.
The steering committee members identified with the protest are Bhootham Yakamallu, Tarala Jagadish, Kondaiah and Raju. The committee said the demonstrations would continue in the coming days according to its previously announced schedule.
The JAC has set November 17 as the date for a State-level protest in Hyderabad if the government does not address the demands. The proposed escalation is the next stated milestone in the dispute, while the government’s response to the staff’s demands was not detailed in the report.
