Coimbatore : Over 3,500 members of Jacto-Geo were arrested, when they staged demonstration and blocked vehicular traffic near the District collectorate here and nearby TIrupur on Monday.

As the week-long indefinite strike continued, despite the Government directing the teachers to return to duty considering the future of the students and squatted near the office of district collector and raised the slogans in support of their demands.

They were demanding withdrawal of contributory pension scheme, pay parity with Central Government employees and also promoting second grade teachers and also said that unless Government called the Jacto Geo leaders for talks to find an amicable solution, the strike will continue.

Meanwhile, long queues were seen in front of educational officers’ office to submit application forms for appointment of new teachers on a temporary basis, police said.

About 1,500 government employees and teachers were arrested in nearby Tirupur, who were indulged in road blockade near the Collectorate, police said.

In a related development, nearly 100 parents squatted on the road in front of a Government school condemning the absence of teachers in Tirupur. They claimed that only two teachers reported for duty in the school with a strength of 400 students in first to eight standards, police said.