The terminated 10323 ad hoc teachers held a massive protest in front of the Civil Secretariat in Agartala on Wednesday. The agitators under the banner of ‘Justice for 10323 Teachers’ organized the Mahakaran Abhiyan (March to Secretariat) in support of four point demand list – – immediate implementation (permanent solution) of the recent Supreme Court judgment by the state government and one government job to the families of each deceased teacher of terminated 10,323 through die-in-harness scheme.
While the agitation of the teachers in high security zone sent the administration into tizzy – especially as it grossly violated the social distancing norms of Covid 19 restrictions etc- the opposition political parties wasted no time to encash the situation. Both the CPM and Congress leaders reached the spot to express their ‘solidarity’ to the terminated teachers.
The aggressive and desparate protests ultimately invited deployment of lathi-wielding police with water cannon. As defiant protestors were continuing their agitations, police resorted to lathi-charge as well as used water canon. However, Police failed to disperse agitators and massive protests continued for long hours blocking the entry and exit points of the Secretariat gate.Finally, the protesters agreed to withdraw their agitation for the time being after an assurance came from Education minister Ratanlal Nath.
The terminated teachers, as they told the media, were not at all happy with the recent government decision regarding recruitment in Group-C and Group-D posts on fixed pay basis in a phased manner.
During protests, deputy leader of opposition and CPIM leader Badal Chowdhury along with other CPM leaders- Manik Dey and Naresh Jamatia and Tripura Pradesh Congress chief Pijush Kanti Biswas met the agitating former teachers soon after the protest was launched.
While extending his supports to the protestors, the deputy leader of opposition said that the BJP-IPFT government from the beginning ignored giving jobs to the teachers, who had to face termination of service following court’s order.
Chowdhury said, “It is unfortunate that the teachers had lost their jobs which we had to accept in our constitutional set-up, but we then created thirteen thousand separate posts. But, the BJP government had tried to block the jobs by moving the Supreme Court. If the BJP-IPFT government had any goodwill, the present BJP government could pass a simple cabinet resolution to revive the jobs and reappoint you.”
Referring to the recent decision of the state government, Chowdhury said, “what the BJP government is now doing is a sheer betrayal. But the people of the state will be with you and we are extending our committed support to you as we have always given.”
The TPCC president protested the police lathi-charge on the agitators. He assured to extend all possible help to the former teachers in their legal battle at free of cost and he also said that the Pradesh Congress would always be with the retrenched teachers in their legitimate struggle.
Meanwhile, Education minister Ratan Lal Nath invited a delegation of the agitating former teachers to a meeting in his secretariat chamber. In the course of discussion, Nath asked for the opinion of the retrenched teachers on the proposal for reemployment finalized by the state cabinet.
After hearing the demands, the Education minister said that he was not in a position to give any commitment regarding their demands but can help them meet the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister in a meeting.
Finally, they called off the protest for the time being based on the assurance made by the Education minister. Before withdrawing the protest, they also made it clear that massive agitation would be staged if their demands are not fulfilled by the state government.
It may be mentioned here that the teachers were terminated following High Court and subsequently Supreme Court orders as the previous Left Front government was found indulging in unfair selection process of these teachers.
