The Nagaland government on Thursday urged the agitating Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) 2016 batch teachers, to call off their agitation and return to schools in the larger interest of students to prevent further loss of learning.
A total of 367 RMSA teachers of the 2016 batch, working in 133 schools, have been demonstrating for the past many days demanding regularisation of their services and extending the benefit the government has given to their colleagues of previous batches.
A senior government official said that in a bid to address the long-pending grievances of the RMSA 2016 batch teachers, a high-level meeting was convened on Thursday under the chairmanship of Abhijit Sinha, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Home Commissioner, Nagaland.
During the deliberations in the meeting, the Principal Secretary explained the government’s position and highlighted the constraints faced by the state government, particularly with the Review Petition filed in the Supreme Court on the issue of implementing scale pay.
While acknowledging the contributions of the RMSA 2016 teachers, he reminded them of the adverse impact of the agitation on the student community and reiterated the government’s commitment to resolving their concerns.
Sinha also pointed out the lengthy nature of litigation processes and suggested exploring workable alternatives to break the current deadlock.
In this regard, the Principal Secretary proposed the constitution of a committee comprising representatives from the School Education Department, Samagra Siksha Abhiyan, Finance Department, Justice and Law, All Nagaland School Teachers’ Association and the RMSA 2016 batch to examine the grievances in detail.
Government officials further assured the RMSA teachers that their submitted memorandum would be studied and placed before the Chief Minister for necessary consideration.
Sinha and other officials appealed to the teachers to call off their agitation and return to schools in the larger interest of students to prevent further loss of learning. The meeting has also decided to continue the dialogue and find a mutually acceptable resolution to the issue.
