Protesting RMSA-2016 teachers in Nagaland reject government’s appeal to call off stir

KOHIMA — The Nagaland RMSA Teachers’ Association-2016 (NRMSATA-2016) on Tuesday entered the second day of its indefinite agitation demanding scale pay, staging a sit-in outside the Directorate of School Education, Kohima.

The protest continued despite repeated appeals from the Directorate of School Education and the Nagaland Education Mission Society, Samagra Shiksha, to suspend the agitation, citing that the matter is sub judice.

Principal Director of School Education, Shashank Pratap Singh, told reporters that the state government filed a review petition in the Supreme Court on August 14 and the case remains pending. He appealed to the agitating teachers to have faith in the judiciary, wait for the verdict, and return to their duties in schools. The department, he added, remains open to dialogue.

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According to officials, the department had held two meetings with the association before the protest began. The first was on September 2 with the mission director of Samagra Shiksha, followed by a second meeting on September 3 with the advisor for School Education. In addition, the Nagaland Education Mission Society, Samagra Shiksha, made two separate appeals to the teachers, the latest on September 8 through State Mission Director L Jamithung Lotha, urging them to call off the agitation.

Providing details of the September 3 meeting, Lotha said the matter had been “discussed at length (even beyond the court’s purview) to explore the best possible options for the teachers.” However, he reiterated that since the government has filed a review petition, “the matter is still sub judice,” and appealed once again for the teachers to suspend the agitation and resume duties while the case is pending.

Meanwhile, an official from the Nagaland Education Mission Society clarified on Tuesday that following the Government of India’s merger of the SSA, RMSA and TE schemes into Samagra Shiksha, the RMSA teachers’ salaries were reduced from INR 31,315 to INR 25,000 in 2018. Since 2021-22, their salaries have been reduced by 5 percent annually, coming down to INR 18,750. The shortfall from the Centre is being met by the state government, which is now paying about 45 percent of the teachers’ salaries, compared to the earlier 90:10 Centre-state ratio.

The official further said that since the teachers were recruited under the Nagaland Education Mission Society, the society cannot grant them scale pay unless approved by the state government. As the government has already filed a review petition, the teachers were urged to wait for the outcome.

“The mission’s only appeal to the aggrieved teachers is to call off the agitation and allow the mission to speak to the government on their behalf,” the official said, adding that ongoing non-cooperation hampers their ability to effectively represent the grievances.

However, NRMSATA-2016 spokesperson Renbemo L Patton and president Imlitemjen told reporters that the agitation would not be called off until their demands are met.

Rejecting the government’s claim that the matter is sub judice, Patton maintained that “They (the government) have filed for a review petition but the court has not granted a stay order, so that judgment is still in force.”

The spokesperson further claimed that the Supreme Court had last year directed the Lok Adalat to settle the case amicably, but the state respondents had chosen to “wait for the outcome of the decision/order of the Supreme Court.”

Now that the SC order is out, he said, the government must implement scale pay.

“There is no question of quashing the verdict that has already been passed. Sooner or later the government has to implement the pay scale,” he stated.

The association maintained that unless there is a “reasonable conclusion where scale pay is implemented,” the agitation would continue.