Nagaland: Agitating ad hoc teachers shift hunger strike venue to Directorate of School Education

The All Nagaland Ad hoc Teachers Group (ANATG)-2015 batch on Friday shifted its hunger strike venue to the Directorate of School Education, intensifying the stir to press for its demand for service regularisation of 1,166 members. The agitation entered its ninth day on Friday, which is also the third day of the hunger strike launched by the agitators. The decision to shift the venue was taken following the government's alleged failure to provide a concrete timeline or policy commitment on the long-pending issue of service regularisation, ANATG-2015 office-bearers said. The group, which has been carrying out sustained protests since February 4, said the shift of the agitation site to the DoSE premises is aimed at directly engaging the Directorate and pressing for immediate administrative and policy intervention. At the Directorate, the aggrieved teachers were seen holding banners and placards, and raising slogans in support of their demand. The group reiterated that despite years of service, required qualifications, and having cleared necessary tests, their regularisation remains pending. The Directorate sent a formal communication to the agitators on Thursday night, requesting them to withdraw the ongoing ceasework and resume duties in the interest of students. In the letter, Principal Director Shashank Pratap Singh acknowledged the receipt of various representations submitted by ANATG-2015 and appreciated the role played by ad hoc teachers in sustaining school education across Nagaland, particularly in remote and underserved areas. However, the Directorate also expressed ''grave concern'' over the agitation causing prolonged suspension of academic activities in several government schools. It assured the agitators that the legitimate demands of ANATG were under active consideration and that high-level meetings had been convened to address the matter in a time-bound manner. The letter said a communication has been received from the Personnel & Administrative Reforms (P&AR) Department seeking submission of additional documents in respect of 235 ad hoc employees (61 Group A & B and 174 Group C & D) for examination by the screening committee for regularisation of their services. ANATG-2015 office-bearers, however, said they would not accept the request to withdraw ceasework at this stage, maintaining that the regularisation of all 1,166 members must be addressed comprehensively. They said that further discussions would be held with all members before deciding the next course of action.