Morung Express News
Kohima | September 18
As the RMSA 2016 Teachers ait-in protest entered the ninth day on September 18, the stalemate between the teachers and the state government continued after a round of talks held today failed to make headway.
According to RMSA spokesperson Renbemo L. Patton, a meeting was held between the teachers’ association with senior government officials, including Home Commissioner, Abhijit Sinha, Commissioner and Secretary for School Education Kevileno Angami, Mission Director L. Jamithung Lotha and other officials at the Home Commissioner’s office this morning.
During the meeting, which began at 10 a.m., the government officials have requested the teachers to form a committee, which was flatly refused by the RMSA executives, said Patton.
“We told them clearly that unless the government has a solution or proposal, there is no point in forming a committee" he explained.
Later in the evening, he said, two officials once again pressed for the formation of a committee, which was outrightly rejected by the association.
“Our stand remains firm. We will not accept this committee proposal and we will continue with our sit-in protest,” Patton asserted.
The deadlock has left the 367 RMSA teachers, who have been demanding pay scale, with little choice but to continue their peotest.
Meanwhile, thousands of students with the nearing exams remain caught in the middle with the disruption of their classes as the impasse drags on.
Earlier, the Nagaland Government held a high-level meeting to address the long-pending grievances of teachers appointed under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) 2016 batch.
According to an official release, the meeting was convened under the chairmanship of Abhijit Sinha, IAS, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Home Commissioner, Nagaland. It was attended by officials from the School Education Department, Samagra Shiksha, Law and Justice Department and representatives of the RMSA 2016 batch.
During the deliberations, the Principal Secretary explained the government’s position and highlighted the constraints faced by the State, particularly with the Review Petition filed in the Supreme Court on the issue of implementing scale pay. While acknowledging the contributions of the RMSA 2016 teachers, he reminded them of the adverse impact of the agitation on the student community and reiterated the government’s commitment to resolving their concerns.
Sinha also pointed out the lengthy nature of litigation processes and suggested exploring “workable alternatives” to break the current deadlock. In this regard, he proposed the constitution of a committee comprising representatives from the School Education Department, Samagra, Finance Department, Justice and Law, the All Nagaland School Teachers’ Association (ANSTA) and the RMSA 2016 batch to examine the grievances in detail.
Government officials further assured the RMSA teachers that the memorandum submitted by them would be studied and placed before the Chief Minister for necessary consideration. They appealed to the teachers to call off their agitation and return to schools “in the larger interest of students to prevent further loss of learning.”
