Over 1,500 junior college educators protested in Pune against Maharashtra’s revised staffing sanction norms, claiming they could affect nearly 10,000 teaching posts. The Maharashtra State Junior College Teachers' Federation submitted a memorandum to officials demanding restoration of existing criteria.

1,500 Maharashtra Junior College Teachers Rally In Pune Against Revised Staffing Norms, Warn Of Statewide Agitation | AI

Mumbai: Over 1,500 junior college educators from across Maharashtra gathered in Pune today to stage a massive rally toward the Divisional Commissioner's Office, protesting the state government's newly revised staffing sanction norms.

Federation Leaders Lead Rally

Organized by the Maharashtra State Junior College Teachers' Federation, the protest was led by senior office-bearers including Federation President Dr. Sanjay Shinde, Coordinator Prof. Mukund Andhalkar, General Secretary Prof. Laxman Rode, and Working President Dr. Avinash Borde. While police initially denied permission for the protest march to originate from Shanipar Wada, teachers assembled at Wadia College before marching to the Divisional Commissioner's Office, where a large public rally took place.

Addressing the crowd, federation leaders warned that the altered staffing criteria would significantly reduce instructional hours for students and threaten nearly 10,000 teaching positions statewide. The demonstration received backing from former MLCs Dr. Sudhir Tambe, Tanaji Sawant, and Bhagwanrao Salunkhe, along with representatives from various educational trusts and staff unions.

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Memorandum Submitted To Education Officials

Joint Director of Education Shriram Panzade received the teachers' memorandum at the protest site. Subsequently, a high-level delegation met Director of Education Dr. Mahesh Palkar at his office. Dr. Palkar assured the representatives that a comprehensive report would be submitted to the government and announced that formal talks with Education Minister Dadaji Bhuse have been scheduled for Monday to resolve the deadlock.

The teachers' federation emphasized that its charter of demands seeks the enforcement of pre-existing official norms rather than new concessions. Specifically, the federation is demanding that the lecture duration in senior-attached junior colleges be reverted to 45 minutes instead of the proposed 40 minutes, and that science practical batch sizes be retained at 20 students rather than increased to 30. Furthermore, educators urged the state to maintain weekly workload caps at 17 clock hours for full-time teachers and 8.30 clock hours for part-time teachers, approve division sanctions for 20 to 30 students in remote and tribal areas, validate divisions with 15 girl students in accordance with existing state policy, and ensure all students admitted through the government's official online portal are counted toward final staffing calculations.

Federation officials noted that today's protest follows a series of agitations, including sit-ins at the Directorate of Education on May 11, symbolic bonfires of the revised criteria on June 1–3, regional demonstrations in late June, and a rally at Azad Maidan on July 6. The federation warned that if Monday's negotiations with the Education Minister fail to yield a resolution, teachers will launch an intensified statewide agitation.

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