Our Correspondent
Kohima | June 18
1,166 ad-hoc teachers from across Nagaland under the banner of All Nagaland Ad-hoc Teacher’s Group (ANATG) 2015 Batch today staged a sit-in-protest here, demanding regularization of their service. The ad-hoc teachers gathered outside the Directorate of School Education, Kohima in protest against the government’s silence over non regularization of their service.
Talking to media persons, ANATG 2015 Batch president Riiguotsolie said that the 1166 ad-hoc teachers have been rendering their service for 8/9 years but the government was still reluctant to give them service regularization.
“We have been rendering our service with a mere fixed pay salary of Rs. 6700 for primary teachers and Rs. 8400 for graduate teachers,” he said. With this salary it is insufficient to meet our daily needs. Not only that our members who have families they cannot survive with their mere salary, he added.
Another member said, “Our appointment started at a time when a kilo of rice was less than Rs. 25 and now it has come to Rs. 40. We just cannot go on with this. It does not mean that we teachers have to eat less, it does not mean that we don’t have the right to have our families.”
The ANATG in its representation to the government on March 29, 2018 stated that they were appointed and posted at different part of the state and working with utmost dedication and to the satisfaction of the controlling officers.
“Since our initial appointment and in spite of serving for so many years our service were not regularized despite the standing government orders and notifications,” it stated.
It also recalled that the department by way of circular in the local dailies dated 13. 5. 2015 has issued a notification inviting the ad-hoc teachers and instructors who has completed 3 years or more of continuous services as on 31.03.2015 to submit all the educational documents and birth certificates to their respective DEO’s, SDEO’s, HM’s and principal for regularization of the service on or before 30.05.2015.
The representation stated that as per the direction of the department, it had submitted the relevant documents to the department as directed within the time frame.
“Now, the government has come out with an excuse that because of the ACAUT and PSAN court case they could not take up our case,” a teacher at the sit-in agitation revealed.
An ANATG member supplemented that the Court case is concerning contract appointment only and has nothing to do with ad-hoc appointment. The Court case does not come under the perimeter of the court case between ACAUT and PSAN versus the Government of Nagaland, the member added.
ANATG stated that their case was never challenged by ACAUT and PSAN before the High Court nor part of the complaint put up to the state government. However, it stated that the cabinet in its meeting held on 11.11.17 deferred the agenda for regularization of 1166 graduate teachers, primary teachers and various other categories without citing any reasons.
Frustrated with the utter neglect by the government, ANATG said the present ad-hoc teachers have had enough miseries owing to the denial of justice and can no longer bear the harsh realities and unwarranted treatments.
