Dimapur, July 4 (EMN): The agitating ad hoc teachers have suspended their hunger strike, but any ‘agreement’ in regard to their demand for regularisation of their service, has yet to be. The 2015 batch of the All Nagaland Ad-hoc Teacher's Group (ANATG) issued a press release on Wednesday informing about the development.
The group asserted that it had considered what it claimed to be “sympathetic concerns” from various other groups based on which the agitators had resolved to temporarily suspend the indefinite hunger strike and “all other democratic acts of resentment” from July 1 until further notice.
The handout from the group stated: ‘The ANATG-2018 batch on 30th June by considering sympathetic concerns from the All Nagaland School Teachers’ Association (Ansta), the Naga Students’ Federation, and the Eastern Naga Students’ Federation, has resolved to temporarily suspend the indefinite hunger strike and all other democratic acts of resentment from 01-07-2018 until further notice. It is also to be noted that a final agreement is yet to be finalized with the government/department along with the Ansta/NSF/ENSF and the ANATG-2015 batch likely on 5th June 2018 (sic).’
The group stated that it had launched its indefinite hunger from June 29 and was to pursue it further. However, owing to the appeal by students and teachers’ groups, the agitators ‘acknowledged the kind concerns and gestures’ temporarily suspended the strike.
The press release mentioned that according to the “official legal statement” made by K Sema, senior additional advocate general, ‘the regularization of ANATG-2015 batch cannot be processed till any of the two legal options are being enforced i.e., till writ petition no. 145 (k) / 2017 is disposed off or till any order is passed by the court modifying the interim order dated 28-07-2017 favouring the ANATG-2015 batch.’
In view of the aforementioned legal options ‘from the government,’ the irregular teachers of said batch “was compelled to opt for the second legal option i.e., urging the government / department to immediately file the Interlocutory Application before the court to avail any order that modifies the interim order dated 28-07-2017 which favours the ANATG-2015 batch, and redress our genuine aggrieved matter at the earliest.’
The group also sought to clarify that ‘it was only due to the recruitment policy of the government of Nagaland that the present aggrieved grade-III ad hoc teachers had to occupy the vacant state sanctioned post on ad hoc basis.’
“Had the government conducted recruitment test before the appointment, the present aggrieved teachers could had followed the recruitment policy in order to occupy the sanctioned post on regular basis,” the press release claimed.
“But the present aggrieved grade-III teachers had to complete a minimum of three years of service and appear the suitability test of which all the present 1166 grade-III ad hoc teachers have successfully cleared the departmental suitability test, spot verification of documents (sic) on 20th May 2017, with all other necessary clearances from the esteemed P&AR department.”
