Justice Denied: The Forgotten RMSA 2016 Teachers of Nagaland

When the Government of India launched the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), it was hailed as a historic step toward ensuring universal access to quality secondary education. Along with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), it formed the backbone of the Right to Education Act, 2010, guaranteeing every child the right to free and compulsory education. Nagaland, too, embraced this vision, urging upgrading high schools and creating hundreds of teaching posts to bridge the gap in access.

However, beneath this celebrated progress lies a troubling reality: the plight of the RMSA 2016 batch of teachers, who remain caught in a cycle of neglect, broken promises, and discriminatory treatment.

A Tale of Unequal Policies

From 2010 onward, Nagaland recruited teachers under SSA and RMSA through open advertisements cleared by the P&AR and Finance Departments and duly approved by the Cabinet. Earlier batches—SSA 2010 and 2013, as well as RMSA 2013—were appointed on regular scale pay, with NPS deductions and all admissible allowances. The appointment orders even stated that if central funding ceased, the State would bear their pay and allowances—an unequivocal recognition that these were sanctioned, regular posts.

In stark contrast, the RMSA 2016 batch of teachers was appointed on contractual terms, coterminus with the scheme. Teacher recruitment under these schemes was governed by MHRD’s (now Ministry of Education) framework and guidelines, which required compliance with NCTE norms (National Council for Teacher Education). Therefore, appointment of teachers on contractual and fixed pay goes against the spirit of Project Approval Board (PAB) directions, and RTE/NCTE norms. As early as 2013, the PAB objected to Nagaland’s job advertisements that suggested teacher posts depended on central funding. The PAB made it clear that paying teachers was the State Government’s responsibility, regardless of funds from the Centre.

Despite these directives, the Cabinet’s corrigendum of October 2015 introduced the very clause that tied 627 Graduate and Language Teacher posts to the RMSA scheme, making them “co-terminus.” This single act created a class of teachers condemned to contractual insecurity, while their colleagues in earlier batches enjoyed full regularisation and pay parity. This discriminatory distinction created a deep divide among teachers recruited under the same flagship scheme.

Broken Promises in the Name of Reform

By 2018, the Government of India had merged SSA and RMSA into Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, further complicating matters. Salary structures were unilaterally reduced by the Centre—INR 15,000 for primary teachers, INR 20,000 for graduate teachers, and INR 25,000 for secondary teachers. The Centre also directed states to bear the additional financial burden over and above these amounts. Nagaland duly complied for earlier batches (SSA 2010 and 2013, and RMSA 2013) by absorbing their salaries under non-plan heads and extending 7th ROP benefits.

But once again, the RMSA 2016 teachers were left out in the cold. Despite performing the same duties in the same upgraded Government high schools as their colleagues, they are treated as second-class employees—underpaid, insecure, and deprived of service benefits such as pension, increments, and seniority.

A Question of Justice, Not Just Finance

The plight of the RMSA 2016 batch is not merely a financial issue—it is a matter of justice, equality, and dignity. How can two teachers, recruited under the same centrally-sponsored scheme, performing the same responsibilities, and teaching in the same schools, be treated so unfairly?

When teachers of other batches, ad hoc employees, and even backdoor appointees are treated with dignity and fairness, why is the government so reluctant to extend the same to this batch of teachers? Why subject them to discriminatory treatment?

This discrimination violates the principle of “equal pay for equal work”, repeatedly upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. It also contradicts the state’s own commitments, as seen in the Cabinet Memorandum of June 2018, which acknowledged that teachers appointed under SSA and RMSA were to be borne by the State even if central funding ceased. By excluding the RMSA 2016 batch from this assurance, the state has acted inconsistently, creating artificial divisions among teachers recruited under the same scheme.

Legal Recognition of Their Rights

The matter inevitably reached the courts. On 16th March 2022, the Hon’ble Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench, ruled in favour of the RMSA 2016 teachers regarding the implementation of scale pay. The Court’s verdict was later upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on 20th May 2025.

Yet, instead of honouring the orders of the highest court, the state has stalled and filed a review petition on 14th August 2025—prolonging injustice and leaving teachers in limbo.

The Way Forward

The RMSA 2016 batch of teachers has the law on their side. They have the constitution on their side. And most importantly, they have justice on their side. What they lack is the political will of the state government to enforce the orders of the highest court of the land.

It is high time the state government corrects this historic wrong. These teachers must be:

1. Regularised at par with earlier RMSA and SSA batches - with full scale pay, allowances, and service benefits.

2. Brought under the state’s salary head to ensure stability irrespective of fluctuating central allocations.

3. Granted arrears, increments, and seniority rights as a matter of law, not charity.

Teachers are not expendable “scheme-based” workers—they are the backbone of the education system. Without their security and dignity, the goal of universal quality education will remain a hollow slogan.

The RMSA 2016 batch has waited long enough. Justice delayed is justice denied. The state must act now to uphold the dignity of teachers, and through them, the dignity of education itself.

Kalong,

A concerned citizen.