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Kohima, Aug. 7 (EMN): The 2015 batch of All Nagaland Ad hoc Teachers’ Group (ANTAG) 2015 on Sunday threatened to “resume” the hunger strike which was called off in 2018, in case the department/government fails to regularise their services after the expiry of the ultimatum period.
In the ultimatum addressed to the principal director of School Education, dated July 21, the ANTAG-2015 batch, had demanded “immediate service regularisation” of the Ad hoc teachers - 2015 batch within a period of one month (August 21) from the date of submission of the letter.
“Failing which the aggrieved teachers shall be constrained to resume the temporarily suspended agitation”, it stated.
The ANTAG-2015 batch comprised (1166) graduate teachers, primary teachers, drawing teachers, and other vocational teachers who had been appointed on an Ad hoc basis against sanctioned posts from 1994 to 2012. As per the department's norms for service regularisation, the departmental suitability test, verification of documents and interviews were conducted by the government/department on May 20 and 22, 2017, the press release issued on Sunday stated.
However, even after the fulfillment of all the criteria, the matter of regularisation was not considered which compelled the aggrieved ANATG 2015 batch to undertake pen strike, district-wise from May 16 to 18, 2018. This was followed by mass casual leave from June 4 to 6, sit-in at Directorate of School Education from June 18 to 29 and finally hunger strike from June 29 the same year, which was unconditionally suspended, it added.
“Despite submissions of several representations on the matter to the Department/Government, the issue at hand has not been attended till date; whereas it is in the knowledge of all concerned that the regularization process in other departments are being done”, the ANTAG stated.
Months after their agitation, the state cabinet had approved scale pay for ad hoc teachers of ANATG-2015 batch.
ANTAG spokesperson Bendangtemsu Ozukum told Eastern Mirror that granting them a scale pay was “an appeasement policy” for which they have been appeased for the past four years.
“But the appeasement policy cannot go on forever so we are coming back to the demand of regularisation”, he stated.
As for their next agitation, the member added that it “stopped” during a hunger strike in 2018. “If we have to start (the agitation) again, then we will have to start from where we left”. He added that all the 1166 ad hoc teachers are likely to go on a mass hunger strike.
The ANTAG-2015 batch further informed district units and general members to be prepared for “whatsoever situation that may arise after the expiry of the ultimatum period”.
Principal Director (PD) of School Education, Thavaseelan K, told this newspaper that he would be calling them for a meeting in a day or two regarding the matter. He added that the group had come to meet him a few days after he had taken over the charge as PD.
He also said there was a court judgment passed in 2016 with regard to the Ad-hoc teachers’ batch 2015, in which the court ruled that they cannot be regularised.
‘Therefore, the Cabinet took up the case and granted a scale pay to them. But regularisation could not happen because of the court judgment,’ he said.
The Gauhati High Court in 2016 passed an order preventing the government “from regularising any contract appointments”.