Uttar Pradesh primary teachers to go on mass leave on January 21 against pension scheme

Teachers of primary and upper primary government schools in Uttar Pradesh will be go on a mass leave on January 21. The teachers' union is demanding for better infrastructure, manpower and pension for their members.

The union has delivered a common leave application to around 5 lakh teachers of Uttar Pradesh, which is addressed to the Basic Shiksha Adhikari. 

President of Uttar Pradesh Prathamik Shikshak Sangh, Dinesh Chandra Sharma said that there is a lack of student facilities and equal pay to faculty. The new pension scheme has made teaching a difficult job, he added.

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Sharma also said that a massive protest was held in Lucknow on November 21 to draw the state government's attention towards the issues of students and teachers. Despite assurances, the centre has not resolved the problems, he said. 

The authorities do not seem to be bothered about our issues, he said. 

Sharma further said that those monitoring the teachers through the selfie-based ''Prerna'' app should understand that classrooms do not have fans, furniture, power supply and sanitary workers. 

The secondary and higher secondary unions have also extended support to the mass leave plan. 

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Unemployment rate rises to 10% in UP

According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, the unemployment rate in the state of Uttar Pradesh doubled in 2019 as compared to the numbers in 2018.

The CMIE numbers showed that the unemployment rate in the most populated state of the country was hovering around 5.91% in 2018 but it grew at 9.95 % in 2019. As per the 2011 census, UP is home to nearly 20 crore people, which is over 16% of India's population.

As per official data, India's GDP growth stood at 4.5% in the second quarter of 2019. Reportedly, the decline in economic activity has resulted in higher unemployment numbers.

UP's unemployment rate was seen to be higher than that of the national average which grew at 7.7%. The unemployment rate of close to 10% means that nearly 10 in every 100 people are unemployed.

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