For the first time in the 23- year history of Navodaya Vidyalayas, over 20,000 employees of 576 Vidyalayas spread across the country resorted to a nation-wide token strike on Monday in protest against the Central Government’s alleged reluctance in implementing pension scheme. All the employees, including the principals of the Vidyalayas, particiapted in the day-long strike.
Raising the demand for a pension scheme, they launched an agitation on November 2. Over 6,000 employees took part in a Parliament march taken out on November 9. But following the government’s alleged neglect of their demand, the employees under the banner of the Joint Action Committee of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samithi Employees Association has decided to resort to a token strike.
Central steering committee member T.P.Mani and other office-bearers of the action committee, Mary P.Mani, Muralidharan Nair and K.N.Shaji, said that they had intimated the government of their decision to launch an indefinite strike from December 1, in the event of no favourable action from the government.
They said the Y.N.Chathruvedi Commission had recommended the government to implement pension scheme for the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya employees in 1998. The various standing committees of Parliament also had recommended pension equivalent to the Kendriya Vidyalaya employees.