Chennai: Laboratory assistants working with the school education department staged a protest in the city on Wednesday, demanding promotion and increase in basic pay.The protesters pointed out that around 4,362 lab assistants were directly appointed into the school education department in 2017. However, despite completing 10 years in service, they have not received any promotion or grade change. “Govt officials told us that there is no provision for promotion for lab assistants. While such opportunities are available for employees in various posts, denying us promotion amounts to social injustice. We urge the govt to reserve special grades for the purpose,” said Sukumar, a lab assistant.The protestors further sought an increase in basic pay as several of them continue to get a basic pay of ₹2,500. “The amount must be increased to ₹4,500. In cities like Chennai, the maximum pay that a lab assistant gets is around ₹39,000. However, there are several disparities when compared to other areas, with the pay scale reducing to less than ₹20,000. These anomalies have to be corrected,” the association said.
