Aided college teachers demand long-pending CAS salaries, withdrawal of Private Universities Bill

Teachers of government-aided colleges from across Tamil Nadu have demanded the immediate release of revised salaries under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) that has been pending for years. They observed a day’s hunger strike in Chennai on Thursday (November 6, 2025) in support of their demands.

The teachers said that the government had issued a G.O. in 2021 stating that monetary benefits of CAS would be paid to the teachers of aided colleges from 2018 onwards although the 7^th Pay Commission revision came into effect in 2016. However, the provisions of the G.O. was yet to be implemented. They also demanded the grant of incentive increments for teachers who have completed M.Phil. or Ph.D. and the restoration of the old pension scheme. One among their demands was also the total withdrawal of the Private Universities Amendment Bill, which, they said, went against the interests of students and principles of social justice.

The protest was organised jointly by Association of University Teachers (AUT) and the Madurai Kamaraj, Manonmaniam Sundaranar, Mother Teresa, and Alagappa University Teachers’ Associations (MUTA).

S.S. Balaji, Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi MLA, addressed the teachers, calling out the “compulsive electoral” mindset of the government as being a hindrance to good governance. He also came down heavily on the bureaucracy stating that they gave priority to populist and flagship schemes of the government while neglecting most other matters concerning people.

M. Veerapandian, CPI State secretary, P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu, Gandhiraj, president, AUT, and Periyasamy Raja, president, MUTA, spoke.