Nagaland RMSA-2016 teachers' protest enters Day 4; talks with govt end in deadlock

Kohima, Sep 11 (PTI) On the fourth day of the Nagaland RMSA-2016 Batch Teachers’ agitation, government officials on Thursday engaged in talks with the protesting teachers at the civil secretariat, but the stalemate remained unresolved.

The protest, marked by a strong and determined turnout, saw teacher mothers holding young children in their arms, standing firm alongside their male colleagues.

The protestors, carrying placards, are demanding ‘equal work, equal pay’ and ‘scale pay in line with their RMSA 2010-13 batch counterparts’.

The agitation comes in response to the continued inaction by the state government in implementing a long-pending decision adjudicated by the Supreme Court regarding service benefits for the teachers.

For three days, the NRMSATA-2016 protested outside the Directorate of School Education. With no positive response, they intensified their agitation and shifted the venue to the civil secretariat area from Thursday.

Amidst the intense protest atmosphere, a high-level meeting was convened by the commissioner and secretary of School Education, Kevileno Angami, along with Mission Director Samagra Shiksha Nagaland L. Jamithung Lotha and other senior officials, to engage with representatives of the Nagaland RMSA-2016 Teachers Association in an attempt to find common ground.

However, sources said the marathon meeting, which started around 11 am and concluded at 6:30 pm, reportedly ended in a deadlock as the government reiterated that a review petition filed in the Supreme Court remains pending, while also assuring that appropriate action would follow once the judicial process concludes.

Following the unsuccessful talks with NRMSATA-2016, the government convened a separate meeting with the All Nagaland School Teachers Association (ANSTA), but that too failed to break the deadlock.

Assuring the association that the department will honour the final verdict of the Supreme Court in the review petition and take up the matter with all stakeholders for its urgent implementation, the government officials requested the teachers to resume duty, he said.

However, emerging from the meeting, Imlitenjen Imchen, president of NRMSATA-2016, told PTI, "We have not accepted the appeal of the department. Our demands are clear and legitimate, and we will continue this agitation unless they are met in toto." PTI NBS NBS MNB