I guess nobody would argue about the fact that the school education department is one of the biggest and most vital departments of our state government. It also probably has a higher number of employees than any other department of our state government. This is so because all the teachers and the 4th grade employees serving in the many government schools across the length and breadth of Nagaland come under the purview of the school education department. And as we all know, the number of schools is not decreasing but increasing. Many high schools have been upgraded to higher secondary schools and many are in the process of being upgraded. With the launching of the SSA project, new primary schools are being set up every year all over Nagaland. Moreover, under the SSA scheme, many primary schools are also being upgraded to middle schools. The result being that the school education department is not just a big department; it is also a department which is becoming bigger.
However, for many years, discontentment, dissatisfaction, frustration and injustice prevailed in this very big and most vital department. This was so because of the manner in which our state government treated the so-called ad-hoc teachers who had been a part and parcel of this department for a long time.
Since the mid-1990s, the Nagaland government appointed many teachers on ad-hoc basis to serve in the many government schools across the length and breadth of Nagaland. These ad-hoc teachers were appointed to fill up the vacancies that cropped up in the schools due to promotions, retirements, transfers and deaths. After their appointment, these ad-hoc teachers began to be paid with the 1993 ROP and many of these so-called ad-hoc teachers began to serve the schools in high earnest with the hope that their service would ultimately be regularized in due course of time.
During the period 1993 -1999, all the ad-hoc teachers were quite satisfied with their jobs as their pay or salary was not that less when compared with the salaries of the other government servants. They felt so despite the fact that their services were yet to be regularized.
However in 1999, a new ROP was introduced in Nagaland for all the regularized government servants. This new 1999 ROP was to bring about a marked and noticeable enhancement in the salaries of all regular government servants. With the introduction and implementation of this new ROP, discontentment and dissatisfaction set in amongst the ad-hoc teachers because their pay would not be enhanced by this new ROP on the ground that they were not regular government servants. With the coming into effect of this 1999 ROP, the difference in the salaries of the ad-hoc teachers and the other regular government servants became huge and undeniable.
Still then, the ad-hoc teachers did not resort to any sort of agitation against the government with the hope that once their service is regularized, their pay would also be affected and enhanced as per the new 1999 ROP. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years…but still, these ad-hoc teachers continued to remain as ad-hoc teachers with no sign of their much craved service regularization. They continued to be paid on the basis of the 1993 ROP and they were made to apply for extension of their service after every one year. This indifferent attitude of the state government slowly started to take its toll on the lives and careers of many promising and sincere teachers.
Finally, the patience of the so-called ad-hoc teachers ran out when, in 2010, the Nagaland government put into effect another new ROP (the 6th Pay Commission) for the regular government servants. This time again, just as in 1999, the ad-hoc teachers were set outside the parameter of the new 2010 ROP on the same ground that they were not regular government servants. With the implementation of the 2010 ROP, even the 4th graded government employees like peons and chowkidars began to be paid with salaries which were much higher than the salaries received by the ad-hoc teachers.
The ANATU (All Nagaland Ad-hoc Teachers Union) had been in operation even before the implementation of the 2010 ROP. However, it was the implementation of the 2010 ROP which ignited and provoked the ANATU and the ad-hoc teachers became convinced that justice would never be delivered unless the deprived ad-hoc teachers themselves resort to bargaining for their long denied rights and privileges.
In this manner, starting from the summer of 2010, the ANATU and the Nagaland government went head to head on many occasions. The ANATU approached the government with the desperate appeal that enough was enough and that time was ripe to finally deliver justice to this deprived section of teachers who had been treated like second class citizens for many years.
Consequently, the school education department came up with the Suitability Test in September – October 2010 for the service regularization of all ad-hoc teachers who had completed three years of continuous service as on 14th May 2007. Over 1700 primary and graduate teachers faced the interview board in this Suitability Test with the hope that their services would soon be regularized.
However, even though the department declared that the suitability test was conducted successfully, the result of this suitability test was not made public for many months. And these unfortunate teachers had to wait for another 18 months before finally receiving their precious service regularization orders in March 2012. During the course of these 18 months, the ad-hoc teachers had to undertake a couple of very serious agitations as the government continued to play the delaying tactics. One of these agitations initiated by the ANATU even resulted in an ugly confrontation with the police where the police resorted to lathi-charge and teargas firing.
In January 2011, another batch of the ad-hoc teachers (those who had completed three years of continuous service as on 30th November 2010) were also asked to submit their relevant documents for the conduct of their Suitability Test. The suitability test for this batch of ad-hoc teachers was finally held in January 2012 where around 2000 primary and graduate teachers from all over Nagaland faced the interview board. Subsequently, the school education department announced the successful conduct of this suitability test also.
However, even after a lapse of another impatient six months, the Nagaland government could not deliver the service regularization orders to this batch of ad-hoc teachers. This forced the ANATU (2012) to vigorously negotiate with the concerned officials sacrificing their precious time and at their own cost. In fact, I really feel very indebted to some of the teachers who went the extra mile to bring out the service regularization orders for this batch of ad-hoc teachers before the end of the year. Due to their untiring and persistent effort and sacrifice, the ad-hoc teachers who had completed 3 years of continuous service as on 30th November 2010 also received their much awaited service regularization orders in the second week of October 2012.
Thus, the year 2012 has really been a year of liberation for these 3700 teachers who had been denied and deprived many privileges and amenities for years.
And now that the services of these teachers have been regularized, these teachers also need to recommit themselves to the very noble profession of teaching. Now, these teachers will earn approximately around Rs.1000 per every working day which I believe is good enough for any normal person to meet day’s needs. And if someone would ask ‘how do we recommit ourselves to the teaching profession?’ I would say, ‘recommit yourself by arriving in schools on time, by spending more time in the schools, by taking lesser leaves, by faithfully and sincerely teaching the subjects that have been allotted to you by the school, by trying to understand the difficult and unpleasant background from which many government school students come, by respecting your schools, the educational institutions and the teaching profession and by acknowledging and understanding the enormous responsibility that has been bestowed upon you as shapers of the children’s destiny’.
As mentioned above, these regularized teachers will now earn on an average approximately around Rs.1000 or more per every working day. Therefore, they do not need to think about earning some extra income anymore by engaging in some extra activities. I know a couple of teachers who drive their taxis to their schools and after their schools, they ply on our very high-standard roads trying to make some extra bucks for themselves. But now, since they have already received their service regularization order, this should not be necessary anymore. I also know some lady teachers who try to sell beauty soaps, imported perfumes and colorful utensils to every person they come across. And for these lady teachers also, it would be highly honorable now if they give up these very irritating behaviors since the Nagaland government would now be paying them with enough cash sufficient for them to support not just their families and children but even their grandchildren……
