CORRESPONDENTS
LAKHIMPUR: The Lakhimpur District Secondary Additional (Contractual) Teachers’ Association initiated an agitation programme on Wednesday in Lakhimpur demanding unconditional regularization of their jobs. In support of the demand, the members of the organization staged a three-hour long sit-in at Tyag Kshetra of North Lakhimpur town.
Notably, these teachers were engaged in 2010 as per cabinet decision under the scheme to strengthen and improve the quality of secondary education across the State and to teach English, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Initially, the remuneration of these teachers was only Rs. 8000 per month which was revised from time to time. At present, they are paid Rs. 20,000 which is considered to be meagre and not proportionate to their work and experiences. The issue of concern is that the remuneration is not paid to them regularly. Besides this, these teachers are being made to render their service at par with their regular counterparts amidst a gloomy sense of insecurity and uncertainty. The previous Congress government took a cabinet decision to regularize the job of these teachers on 28.02.2016. As consequence of that decision, an office memorandum was issued on 03.03.2016. Thereafter, a detailed guideline vide, Memo No.PMA(S) 32/2010/247, dated May 17, 2016 was issued by the Secondary Education Department and all the formalities had been completed to absorb these teachers against existing vacant posts.
The present State Education Minister has taken a move to revoke the existing cabinet decision by reviewing a case in the Gauhati High Court pertaining to these teachers. They were already exempted from TET for absorption against vacancies by the High Court vide its judgment dated 26.09.2014. The teachers concerned termed the Education Minister’s move to nullify the prospect of regularization of these teachers as unfortunate. A review petition 14/2017 in the Writ Petition Appeal No. 360/14 is under trial in the High Court at present.
By staging the protest, the teachers concerned appealed to the Chief Minister to look into the matter and intervene in the interest of not only these teachers but also the student community in general. In this regard, the organization submitted a memorandum to him demanding unconditional regularization of 5,924 such teachers across the State, including 346 of Lakhimpur. The organization further demanded him to withdraw the writ petition and to execute the cabinet decision taken in 2016.
JORHAT: Along with the rest of the State, in Jorhat too hundreds of contractual teachers of high and primary schools thronged the main streets of Jorhat city and Majuli district, shouting slogans to demand regularization of their jobs. The contractual teachers even blocked roads opposite to the School Inspector’s office for several hours. Finally after an hour, representatives from the SI office came out till the gate, heard the grievances of the teachers and received the memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and State Education Minister through the Deputy Commissioner of Jorhat.