KOHIMA, SEPTEMBER 17 (MExN): The All Nagaland Adhoc Teachers’ Group (ANATG) 2015 batch shot off a letter to the Nagaland State Government stating it has no other option but to protest. The ANATG letter, written on September 17 and made available to the media, stated it was in response to a letter from the Department of School Education (DoSE) dated September 12.
The ANATG said that the DoSE in its letter citing the Gauhati High Court order of August 3, 2018 against the WP (c) NO. 145(k)/ 2017 stated that the State Government was not in a position to “regularize our service.” According to the ANATG, the Government “threatened us with actions if we take recourse to unlawful means to ventilate our grievances.” The Government’s reaction notwithstanding, it maintained that its “grievances and demands” are genuine and charged the Government of not being serious enough to resolve the issue.
It said that the State Government justified its stand based on the Supreme Court order of April 10, 2006 in the Uma Devi case. However, it alleged the Government of acting in contravention of the SC order by making “direct regular appointments without selection.”
“Strictly going by the Uma Devi (case), most of the appointments under any department would be illegal,” it alleged. Contending that its case should not be clubbed with other adhoc/contract appointments, it stated, “We understand that if we are regularized, it can/may be challenged in the court… but such prospective challenge , which may or may (not) come about should not deter the department from regularizing the ANATG-2015 Batch.”
While stating it has received support from many civil organisations, the ANATG stated it is confident there will be no objection to the Government regularising their posts.
The August 3 order, it said, “dealt with 706 allegedly irregular/illegal appointments,” while claiming “Ours was not an issue in the said case.” The High Court said that “the state respondents should not regularize any person if he/she completes only three years of continuous service on adhoc/contract basis in terms of the OMs dated 11.08.2016 and 04.08.2008. (It) did not say that regularization is not permissible irrespective of whether one has served for three years or more and not as stated by your authority.”
Stating, “We all have cleared the Departmental-Suitability Test” and have the rights to claim service regularization, the ANATG reiterated, “We have no other alternative but to peacefully protest by resuming Hunger Strike.”
