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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sep. 28 (EMN): At least three mothers, accompanied by their toddlers and children, were at the forefront of the ongoing indefinite protest called by the All Nagaland Ad hoc Teachers' Group (ANATG) 2015 batch against non regularisation of their services at the Secretariat Plaza, Kohima on Wednesday.
The peaceful protest, which commenced on Sep. 26, entered the third day on Wednesday.
A mother of three, who is not from Kohima district, said that they were temporarily lodged at her cousin's place in Naga Bazaar.
‘Even if it is difficult travelling all the way here and staying at someone else's house, we will protest till regularization comes through,' she said.
Another teacher said she had left her children at home to participate in the agitation in the state capital.
'We (have) come here from another district to protest the non regularisation of our service. But, we are hoping that the government will regularise,' she said.
Spokesperson of ANATG-2015 batch, Bendangtemsu Ozukum, affirmed that they were in Kohima for a 'legitimate demand' and "shall have it", to which the protestors shouted 'yes' in unison.
‘We do not want any increment in our salary; what we want is regularisation,’ he added.
The Northern Angami Youth Organisation (NAYO) on Wednesday visited the protest site and extended its solidarity to ANATG, stating that it "vouches for all out quality education in the state".
"It is disheartening when thousands of dedicated teachers who had roped in all their best efforts for more than a decade for the genuine uplift and welfare of the students are being made to suffer due to discrepancies and lopsided attitude best known to the Nagaland government and the concerned department," NAYO stated.
"We the NAYO are totally against the directives of the government, when the teachers are struggling to fight for a genuine cause, they have been threatened with dire consequences of disciplinary actions in a democratic setup instead of being placated or their grievances being addressed," it added.
The government of the day should be held "accountable" and that the youth body "will not sit still when the very foundation of our children's education is being threatened", it continued.
President of NAYO, Roko Angami, told the media after addressing the protesting teachers that the demand of ANATG-2015 is "genuine" and it’s high time the government considers their case.
'The government keeps talking about quality education but if they don't promote and develop teachers, how can quality education come? Priority should be given to the teachers,' he said while appealing to the government to look into the matter.