Agartala: Sacked 10,323 teachers set a deadline to resolve their issues

During a press conference, ‘Joint Movement Committee’ and ‘Amra 10,323’ of sacked 10, 323 teachers urged the government to provide a permanent solution by the end of December 2021. Convener of ‘Amra 10323’ Dalia Das said that the government is not fulfilling its promises.

Agartala: The 10, 323 teachers of Tripura who were leading the protest earlier had come to the fore on Friday announcing that the movement will be reignited. During a press conference, ‘Joint Movement Committee’ and ‘Amra 10, 323’ of sacked 10, 323 teachers urged the government to provide a permanent solution by the end of December 2021. Convener of ‘Amra 10323’ Dalia Das said that the government is not fulfilling its promises. Dismissed teachers are being attacked whenever they try to express their opinion, she said.

“The state government has said so many things and gave so many promises but they failed. The brutality and dictatorship of the government have created anarchy in the state. Even the sacked teachers are not being spared from the attack. Dismissed teachers will not remain silent. Therefore, the sacked teachers will meet the education director on a deputation on November 10. Prior to the deputation, a procession will be held”, said Dalia.

Another sacked teacher Bijay Krishna Saha said that the state government had promised to form an inquiry committee. But the report of that inquiry committee has not been made public yet. “The government wants to hide the investigation report. And a lawsuit has been filed in the Supreme Court. Because not only politically, but also legally the sacked teachers are the victims of the conspiracy,” he said. He further claimed that Trinamool Congress had recently said at a public meeting in Agartala that all possible cooperation would be extended to find a permanent solution for the sacked teachers. The sacked teachers demanded a permanent solution before the next assembly elections which would be held in 2023.

Besides, the sacked teachers also said that if the present government does not provide a permanent solution by next December, the sacked teachers will launch a larger movement across the state. If necessary, National Highway and railways will be blocked.

As per reports, the 10,323 school teachers, including graduate teachers, post-graduate teachers, and undergraduate teachers were appointed in different phases since 2010 during the Left government's rule. In 2014, Tripura high court terminated them, terming the recruitment process as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court also upheld the verdict in March 2017. The teachers were supposed to retire after December 31, 2017, however, the SC held them on an ad hoc basis. Only 8,882 ad hoc teachers were left out of the 10,323 teachers. The BJP during its campaign promised to find a solution for their problem if it came to power. In May 2018, the BJP led government moved the apex court to extend their services. A final extension was granted till March 2020 on November 1 and many vacant posts were created in Group-D and C categories, for which teachers had to appear for exams.