Kohima: The All Nagaland Ad-hoc Teachers Group (ANATG)-2015 Batch on Friday kept its indefinite hunger strike on hold while continuing its agitation for long-pending service regularisation of 1,166 members, as the protest entered ninth day.
The decision was taken after the government said in an official communication that the agitators’ demand is “under active consideration” of the administration, and requested the protesters to resume duty for the sake of students.
The hunger strike, which began on Wednesday noon, has been placed on hold with immediate effect, subject to resumption. However, the agitation has not been withdrawn, ANATG officials said.
The group shifted its agitation venue from Naga Solidarity Park and Capital Convention Centre to the Directorate of School Education here.
Earlier, in a letter on Thursday, Principal Director of School Education Shashank Pratap Singh acknowledged receipt of various representations and memoranda submitted by ANATG-2015 concerning regularisation.
The department placed on record its appreciation for the role played by ad-hoc teachers in sustaining school education across Nagaland, particularly in remote and underserved areas.
However, it expressed “grave concern” that the ongoing cease-work had resulted in prolonged closure of academic activities in several government schools, causing academic loss to students, especially those preparing for the HSLC and HSSLC examinations.
The letter further stated that the legitimate demands of ANATG were under active consideration and that high-level meetings had been convened with concerned authorities to address the issue in a time-bound manner.
It also said that the department had received communication from the Personnel & Administrative Reforms (P&AR) Department dated February 11 seeking submission of additional documents in respect of 235 ad-hoc employees (61 Group A & B and 174 Group C & D) for the next stage of examination by the Screening Committee for regularisation of their services.
Stating that the government had already initiated action, the principal director earnestly requested the group to withdraw the ongoing cease-work and resume normal teaching duties in the interest of students.
In response, the ANATG Core Committee, through a letter on Friday, informed the department about its resolve to keep the hunger strike on hold but maintained that the agitation would continue unless the government provides a specific date for regularisation.
The group has also sought official deputation of 10 ANATG members to oversee the documentation process related to regularisation.
Despite the temporary suspension of the hunger strike, teachers continued holding banners and placards at the Directorate premises, raising slogans demanding immediate regularisation.
Group officials said that since Saturday and Sunday are government holidays, active agitation would pause during the weekend and resume from Monday.
The leaders maintained that the future course of action would depend on the government’s response to their conditions.
