On Wednesday, October 5, more than a thousand ad hoc Nagaland government teachers continued with their sit-in protests in Kohima to demand immediate regularisation of service. This is their tenth day of protest, as stated in a report by PTI.
It is the All Nagaland Ad hoc Teachers Group (ANATG) 2015 batch, appointed to various government schools of the state from the year 1994 to 2012, that has been staging a protest outside the Civil Secretariat in Kohima since September 26. Recently, 38 members started a hunger strike as well.
ANATG spokesperson Bendangtemsu Ozukum claimed eight of the 38 members had to be rushed to hospital. He also informed that the meeting with representatives of the State government ended in a deadlock. ANATG members were running out of patience and are pondering over intensifying their protests, he said.
The ad hoc teachers rejected the offer of the state government to set up a High-Powered Committee (HPC) and reaffirmed their demand for immediate regularisation of their service on Monday, October 3. They also submitted a representation to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio seeking his intervention to resolve the matter.
A closed-door meeting between 31 team members of the ANATG Core Committee and Nagaland government Advisor for School Education KT Sukhalu, Commissioner and Secretary Kevileno Angami, Principal Director Thavaseelan K and Director Wanthungo Tsopo was held. Neither of the sides budged from their stand hence, the meeting ended in a deadlock, as stated in a report by PTI.
It is the government's stance that it cannot regularise the services of the ad hoc teachers because of the standing order of the Supreme Court and High Court not to regularise ad hoc appointees. The ANATG, while citing examples of other departments regularising the service of ad hoc employees, wondered if the court order was only applicable to them.
The Principal Director had said that the members of the ANATG-2015 Batch were not illegal appointees but were appointed irregularly without following proper norms in sanctioned posts.
The department had also suggested to ad hoc teachers to move the court to vacate the order, without which, it would not be possible to regularise their service.
