Former teachers continue protest in Tripura, demand direct employment

Government school teachers whose services have been terminated said on Monday that their sit-in demonstration here would continue until the Tripura government announced their direct employment. The agitation, which began outside the City Centre on December 7, entered its 22nd day.

The forums representing the former teachers called the protest amid cold weather to press their demand for direct employment in State government departments. Altogether, 10,323 teachers lost their job under a Supreme Court order in a case that originated at a sessions court in Tripura over flawed recruitment procedures followed by the previous government.

Children, spouses and parents of the former teachers too joined the protest. The former teachers on Monday announced that on January 1 they would report to the schools where they served for years, as a mark of protest.

The State government has not invited them for talks so far, but Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath had appealed to them to end the protest. He repeatedly said that over 4,000 vacancies were created in various departments in C and D grades with relaxation in the upper age limit to help the former teachers and they should appear in interviews to get recruited.

Mr. Nath has been citing recruitment rules and procedures and termed their demand for direct employment ‘absurd’. He said the government could not reserve jobs for a particular segment that would create another legal tangle.