The primary school teachers from Sivasagar district in Assam who have not received their salaries for the past 12 years decided to embark on an indefinite hunger strike from August 14 in protest against the State Government’s indifferent attitude to their genuine demands.
Also read: Assam: ‘Mass suicide’ attempt by teachers at Sivasagar over unpaid salary
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This was decided in a protest meeting held in Sivasagar on Monday.
Notably, as many as 1,514 gathered at the historic Borpukhuri tank in Sivasagar on July 26 last to commit ‘mass suicide’.
However, their attempts were thwarted by the police, while local administration officials, residents and local organizations urged the teachers to call off their ‘mass suicide programme’.
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Also read: Assam: Sonowal silent on Sivasagar teachers’ problems
The agitating teachers finally relented and the district administration invited them over for a discussion wherein they raised their grievances and demanded that a solution be found to the same within a week.
The district administration also assured the agitating teachers to convene a meeting with State Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and State Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya within one week.
But even after one week, no concrete step has been taken by the administration forcing the teachers to announce their second phase of agitation.
The teachers have threatened that if the State Government do not regularize their services within August 14, then they will sit for indefinite hunger strike from that day.
The agitating teachers also threatened to lock out all schools in the district on August 14 if their demands are not met.
Notably, in 2006, as many as 9,236 primary school teachers appointed between 1989 and 2001 were declared ‘illegal’ by the State Government.