STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Academic activities came to a halt in provincialised colleges across Assam on Friday as members of the Assam College Teachers' Association (ACTA) staged peaceful sit-in demonstrations and observed a statewide pen-down strike, pressing for the resolution of several long-pending service-related and financial demands.
Teachers took part in the protest on their respective college campuses, suspending academic activities as part of the association's statewide agitation against what it described as prolonged administrative delays, unresolved policy issues and the government's failure to fulfil its financial commitments.
In a statement, ACTA president Dr Bipul Chakrabarty and general secretary Dr Parag Jyoti Mahanta said the agitation aimed to draw the government's attention to the growing challenges faced by teachers in provincialised colleges.
The association alleged that the inadequate implementation of University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines had adversely affected teachers' promotion prospects, professional dignity and morale, with wider implications for the state's academic environment.
Among its major demands, ACTA called for the reopening of the OM 2013 portal to resolve long-pending service-related issues and the scrapping of the National Pension System (NPS), with the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to ensure retirement security for teachers.
The association also demanded that previous service be counted towards seniority and promotions in accordance with UGC guidelines and that promotions under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) be granted from the respective dates of eligibility, along with financial benefits and without additional conditions.
Other demands included the immediate regularisation of fixed-pay teachers, the formulation of comprehensive leave rules, the release of pending UGC-scale arrears and withheld additional increments for MPhil and PhD qualifications, and the removal of administrative hurdles and irregularities affecting the promotion process.
ACTA further sought an increase in the retirement age of college teachers to 65 years in accordance with UGC norms, simplification of mutual transfer procedures and the filling of vacant teaching posts across departments to maintain the prescribed student-teacher ratio and reduce the workload on existing faculty members.
The association's leadership appealed to its members across the state to maintain unity and continue their collective efforts to secure their demands.
Acknowledging that the agitation had temporarily disrupted academic activities, ACTA maintained that the protest had become a last resort to safeguard teachers' professional dignity and secure their long-pending rights. It urged the state government to intervene urgently to address the grievances and prevent further deterioration of the provincialised higher education sector in Assam.
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