Following the failure of talks between the Human Resource Development ministry and representatives of the All India Federation of University and College Teachers' Organisation in New Delhi on August 24, the teachers, who kicked off the strike on August 11, had decided to hold morchas and dharnas in all the state capitals. Students of the Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work will also stage a dharna at Azad Maidan on August 27 between 10 am and 3 pm in support of the strike. ``We feel that the teachers' are justified in their demands; hence we totally support the strike,'' said a release.

A teacher activist from the Bombay University and College Teachers' Union (BUCTU), Professor Madhu Paranjape, remarked: ``We shall leave no stone unturned and will doggedly pursue the case through this strike. This is the only way the government will hear our plea.'' Added Guru Nanak College professor K R Shyam Sundar: ``The government is pre-occupied with its own problems and has little time to hear ours. But it distressing that our struggle has not stirred society. This reflects the importance accorded to education in India.''