Nagaland Ad hoc Teachers’ Group resumed protests at Naga Solidarity Park, demanding regularisation after years of delays despite tests, interviews and policy assurances.
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KOHIMA — The All Nagaland Adhoc Teachers’ Group (ANATG), 2015 batch, on Wednesday began a protest at Naga Solidarity Park, Kohima, following the expiry of an ultimatum served to the state government seeking regularisation of their services.
The teachers began the protest on February 4 after the government failed to regularise their services by January 30, the deadline set in an ultimatum served on January 7.
The ANATG represents 1,166 ad hoc teachers appointed between 1994 and December 2012, including primary, graduate and language teachers, Hindi teachers, carpentry instructors and art teachers.
Also read: Nagaland adhoc teachers warn of mass protest as January 30 regularisation deadline nears
The group has been seeking regularisation after its members appeared for written tests, interviews and document verification in 2017 under a regularisation drive notified by the School Education department.
On February 5, the second day of the protest, some teachers met the screening committee chairman following an invitation and held an “informal” discussion. Another meeting has been scheduled for February 7.
Speaking at the protest site, Benjungsangla, a primary teacher from Mokokchung appointed in 2011, said that the teachers were protesting to “claim” their rights.
She shared that some among them were appointed as early as 1994 and are nearing retirement. “We are all struggling. Our families are going through hard times. In 2018, the government gave us scale pay. It was a tactic to silence us,” she said.
Prior to the pay revision, the teacher said, they were receiving INR 6,600, and the marginal increase at the time felt like a “blessing.”
In 2022, the teachers again launched an agitation demanding regularisation, following which a High Powered Committee (HPC) was constituted. “By December 2023, the issue was supposed to be resolved. But now it is 2026, and we are still waiting,” she said.
Warning that the teachers are “agitated,” she said, “For now it is a silent protest, but we cannot promise the government that we will remain silent tomorrow.”
She added that the government would be held responsible for any escalation.
Referring to Thursday’s meeting, she said that the teachers were invited but were not given a definite timeframe. The agitation, she said, would continue until a positive solution is offered.
Neiko Lasuh of the Phek unit of ANATG (2015 batch), who has been in service for 26 years, said that the government has failed to regularise their services despite the teachers having completed all required procedures and submitted necessary documents.
Read more: Nagaland adhoc teachers submit representation to Chief Minister, rejects High Powered Committee
“Since 2017, we have cleared all examinations, yet the government keeps asking for further screening. We are being played like a ball,” he said.
He urged the government to regularise ad hoc teachers at the earliest and appealed to the public to support their cause.
It may be recalled that ad hoc teachers first staged a sit-in demanding regularisation in 2018 and were subsequently granted the Sixth Revision of Pay.
In 2022, they went on a hunger strike, following which a five-point resolution was adopted.
A key resolution was the formation of an HPC headed by the principal secretary or commissioner secretary within 15 days, with recommendations to be submitted by June 2023 and the matter resolved by December 2023.
In March 2024, the state government issued an office memorandum introducing a one-time policy for regularisation of employees appointed on a contract or ad hoc basis against sanctioned gazetted Group A and B posts prior to June 6, 2016.
The ad hoc teachers said that the memorandum was a result of the HPC agreement, but added that their services have yet to be regularised.