Assam tutors announce protest as their demands remain unresolved

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The All Assam Accommodated Tutor's Association (AAATA) has announced a protest on November 18, alleging that the State government has failed to deliver on several assurances made during their reappointment in 2021. The decision followed years of appeals, representations, and unsuccessful attempts to secure meetings with government officials.

In a press meet on Saturday at Dispur Press Club, general secretary Dijen Sarmah stated that many of them were first appointed between 1991 and 2001 under the State government and the Education Department. Sarmah said that they had received regular salaries for eight to ten years before the government later declared their appointments irregular and stopped their pay. Despite the stoppage, they continued to teach for nearly two decades without remuneration while repeatedly approaching the authorities for redress.

Sarmah stated that between 2012 and 2014, several departments scrutinized their documents, and a Scanning Committee verified their eligibility and salary history. Following this process, the government held a reappointment distribution ceremony on January 30, 2021 in Khanapara, where 5,411 individuals received fresh appointment letters. Of them, around 3,000 tutors who held only basic training qualifications were reappointed as accommodated tutors with a fixed salary of Rs 10,800, without access to service benefits.

Sarmah recalled that during the 2021 event, the then Education Minister-now the Chief Minister-had assured them that their service conditions would be improved within 40 days, including benefits such as gratuity of Rs 10 lakh in the event of retirement or death. They alleged that none of these commitments had been fulfilled over the past four to five years.

Sarmah further said that the prolonged inaction had eroded their trust in the government, prompting the decision to stage a physical protest. Sarmah reiterated key demands, including promotion from accommodated tutor to full teacher status, equal pay for equal work, provision of Rs 10 lakh as one-time ex-gratia for retiring or deceased tutors, in-service training for untrained tutors after promotion, and access to pension, life insurance, and health insurance schemes.

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