The College Teachers in Nagaland are up in arms and will take a posture sooner than later that may paralyze the functioning of government colleges for non-payment of their enhanced salary, which is due to them since Jan 2006, as all means of appeal and representation from the teachers have failed to evoke any response from the government. It is pertinent to mention that the state government had accepted the 6th pay recommendation (UGC) with a handsome pay package along with a stringent service conditions at the entry point and also at all the levels of upward movement, placement and promotion.
No other professionals will be subjecting to such a rigorous process of recruitment as college teachers in Nagaland. Consider this- the minimum educational qualification required for a Asst professor is a master degree with minimum score of 55%, coupled with mandatory national eligibility test (NET), conducted by UGC, at all India level. Thereafter, one has to qualify the recruitment test conducted by NPSC at the state level. Therefore to get through teaching profession in Nagaland under higher education is not as easy as it used to be. Even after the recruitment, to get placement or to move up to next higher grade, one has to work hard to garner/score points as prescribed by UGC, only then, one becomes eligible to move up to the next higher grade with higher pay Band.
The erstwhile regime of time-bound placement has been replaced to inject dynamism in teaching and learning process and to enhance the standard of higher education across the country including the state of Nagaland. The college teachers across the state in tune with time are bound to accept these stringent provisions as this strict regulation from UGC had come along with fairly good pay package, though college teachers do not get the benefit of few allowances at par with our professional cousins in the university.
The crux of the grievances of the college teachers pertains to the withholding of the enhanced salary from the period 1/1/06 to 31/3/10 by the state government. With the concurrence of the Finance department, the Accountant general’s Office issued pay slips to all the eligible teachers’ on 29/10/10. In compliance to this pay slip, we teachers submitted the arrears bills at the respective Treasury and when the payment process had already begun the chief secretary passed an order in Dec 2010, directing all the Treasury Officer to stop the payment. We were indeed surprised since majority of the teachers were not allowed to draw the arrears and denied the right which is equally due to all government college teachers. By this order, government has willfully segregated the teaching faculty into privilege few and the deprived majority. Nevertheless, although the order smack of arbitrariness, the teacher maintained a dignified silence with a view that this was a temporary measure to tight over some financial exigency at that point in time.
However this order seemed to have gained legitimacy for good to the deprived majority as the government has failed to work out a solution in the intervening period to correct the disparity even after the lapse of 28 months. The teachers are appalled at the insensitivity of the government towards the silent majority who has also rendered the same service with fair sense of responsibility in the same manner as their more fortunate counterparts. Among the silent majority, some have passed away, some retired from the service, and most poignant of all, few deceased children are waiting anxiously for the money that their late parents had earned in their life time.
A welfare government like ours would do well to refrain itself from treating its servants in this manner as it not only affects the teachers alone but families and the dependents as well. This attitude of the government encourages lethargy and frustration among its employees and contradicts the maxim of the state government ‘good governance and accountability’, nor does it upholds the principles of fairness and equality.
The All Nagaland College Teachers’ Association (ANGCTA) submitted a representation reminding the government to pay the pending arrears within 31st March 2013, after which the memorandum reminded the government that the teachers would take their own course of action. However the government is cool and insensitive as ever towards the deprived teachers. It is important to mention here that the state coffers will not be impacted much by disbursing the arrears as the Ministry of Human Resources Department (MHRD) notification is very clear on this count- make the payment and get it reimbursed from the central government in 2/3 installments. (MHRD Letter No 1-7/2010 U-Dated 12-08-12)
Now the basic question is where do we go from here? We teachers have come to the realized that mere noble values in a noble profession with dignified silence will only perpetuate our woes and therefore, the College teachers should take position to make our voice heard in the corridor of power. In this backdrop, all conscientious college teachers across the state must contribute their voice to make it audible to the policy makers in the capital.
Dr Maongsangba
President
Dimapur Govt. College
Teachers Association
Thongsoi
Vice President
Dimapur Govt. College
Teachers Association
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