Staff reporter
Guwahati: The All Assam Primary TET Qualified Teachers’ Association has temporarily suspended its democratic protest scheduled for September 15, following an official invitation for formal talks from the Education Department.
The association which has long demanded justice for teachers deprived of regularization and salary security, said the suspension was made in good faith but warned that the dialogue should not become a delaying tactic.
The association highlighted a series of unresolved issues, including correction of salary structure anomalies, implementation of timescales, transfer policies, health insurance under the Mukhyamantri Lok Sevak Arogya Yojana, zero-cost insurance schemes, and access to loans for housing and vehicles. Teachers have also demanded simplification of leave approval processes.
Despite years of petitions, memoranda, discussions, sit-ins, protests, and hunger strikes, the teachers allege the government has failed to address their grievances. Recently, the association’s 33-member district committee had called for a sit-in protest on September 15 at the State Samagra Shiksha office in Kahilipara.
Union leaders said they accepted the government’s call for dialogue on September 11 with a “positive and constructive mindset,” but warned that they would intensify agitation if the outcome was unsatisfactory.
Association executive president Diparnab Ghosh stated that the results of the upcoming meeting would determine the union’s next steps. “If the outcome is not promising, the suspended programme will be revived in a stronger form,” he said.
General secretary Kuljit Thakuriya emphasized that this should be the “last resort” to resolve the long-pending problems of contractual teachers. Another general secretary Partha Pratim Gogoi also stressed that every issue under Samagra Shiksha must be addressed through negotiations without further delay.
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