LPST rank holders call off strike on 37th day; Valarmati ends hunger strike

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The protest by the Lower Primary School Teacher rank holders, ongoing in front of the Secretariat for 37 days, was called off on Tuesday. The hunger strike of 13 days was brought to an end by Valarmathi, secretary of the strike committee.

The decision was made after discussions with Education Minister N Shamsuddin. The minister provided lemon juice to Valarmathi to end her hunger strike. The minister assured that the demands of the protesters would be met sympathetically. Meanwhile, the protesters say that they will not completely withdraw from the protest camp until their demands are met.

The then opposition leader VD Satheesan had promised to make appointments from the rank list if he came to power. Congress leaders who directly and indirectly supported the rank holders' strike at that time included Minister Anoop Jacob, MPs KC Venugopal, and Shafi Parambil.

The LP school teacher rank lists came into effect in all 14 districts on May 31, 2025. 11,758 people were included in the list in all the districts. After a year and two months, not even the first rank holder has been appointed in Kasaragod, Kozhikode, Palakkad and Alappuzha districts. Not even 500 people have been appointed so far. Discussions were held with the Education Minister six times. Although the protestors met with the chief minister, they couldn't come out of the meeting convinced.