Seemandhra teachers agree to end strike

After nearly two-month long strike against the central government's decision to divide Andhra Pradesh, teachers of state-run schools and colleges in Seemandhra region Thursday agreed to return to work.

Over two lakh teachers will be resuming their duties from Friday as their leaders agreed to end the strike during talks with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy told reporters that the teachers decided to end the strike after the government made an appeal to them to return to work to save the academic year of the students.

The strike had badly affected the studies of over 50 lakh students in 13 districts of Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions).

A statement from the chief minister's office said the Samaikyandhra (united Andhra) teachers' struggle committee agreed to call off the strike after he appealed to them to return to their duties to save the future of poor students.

The chief minister said since education sector would be badly affected by the division of the state, all should make a united effort to keep the state united.

This was the second major breakthrough for the government Thursday. Earlier in the day, the electricity employees temporarily called off their strike in view of the cyclone threat to the coast and also hardships faced by the people.