Kohima, February 13 The All Nagaland Ad hoc Teachers Group (ANATG)-2015 batch shifted its hunger strike to the Directorate of School Education on Friday, intensifying the protest to demand the regularisation of services for its 1,166 members.
The agitation entered its ninth day on Friday, which is also the third day of the hunger strike launched by the protesters.
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-standing issue of service regularisation, ANATG-2015 office-bearers said.
The group, which has been conducting sustained protests since February 4, said that shifting the protest site to the DoSE premises is aimed at directly engaging the Directorate and demanding 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 protesters on Thursday night, requesting them to withdraw the ongoing work stoppage 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 protesters 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 work stoppage 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.
