The terminated 10,323 ad hoc teachers on Wednesday resumed their movement for job and livelihood and held a mass rally in Agartala city after the ‘Joint Movement Committee of 10,323’ – an amalgamation of three protesting organizations – got a nod from the High Court of Tripura.
At a time, when the Education Minister of the state repeatedly claimed that more than 8000 teachers have already applied for the Group C and Group D posts created, according to him, for re-employment of 10,323, the teachers completed a year of unemployment. On March 31, 2020, the teachers completed their extended ad-hoc service of two years that too as per the directions of the Supreme Court of India and ever since their jobs were gone, they had been seen spearheading protests to have their jobs back.
Wednesday’s rally deemed as the resumption of 10,323 movement as the protests had been halted for a time being, after a police showdown on the 52-days long sit-in stir turned violent leaving close to hundred people injured. The police hereafter rejected their application seeking approval for holding protests citing law and order situation. Later, the teachers moved the High Court.
Speaking on the occasion, JMC leader Daliya Das said, “one year has passed. We are still left in the lurch. The death toll of the teachers who have succumbed to the tremendous mental trauma reached 90. As many as 70 percent of our teachers are receiving calls from banks for the pending installments. Our trusted people who became grantors for our loans were facing the brunt as their accounts were being seized for our loans”.
Echoing the same, Bijay Krishna Saha, another leader of the JMC said, “the government has betrayed us. They are doing the stark opposite that they have promised. Until and unless our jobs are given, this movement will go on”.