At least 40 Tripura teachers facing termination due to a Supreme Court order over faulty recruitment have “died of psychological trauma”.
“Over 40 teachers have lost their lives, unable to bear the pressure and trauma of losing their job,” All Tripura Adhoc Teachers Employees’ Organisation president Bimal Saha told reporters in Agartala.
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A total of 10,323 teachers — including graduate, post-graduate and under-graduate teachers — were inducted in different phases since 2010, Indian Express reported.
Tripura High Court terminated the teachers from their services terming the recruitment process “unconstitutional” in 2014.
After an SLP filed by the state government, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court verdict in March 2017.
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Following the apex court verdict, the teachers were pronounced to retire after December 31, 2017, and were then inducted on ad-hoc basis.
In November last year, the Supreme Court granted them one-time final extension till March 2020.
With three months to go till they lose their jobs, the teachers have now hit the streets in protest.
While around 2,000 of these teachers have been absorbed in other positions through a separate recruitment process, the rest are facing unemployment.
He also said the teachers will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in January, demanding a permanent resolution of the problem.
Asked if they were hopeful about the state government’s intervention, Saha said they hoped the government would resolve the issue, failing which they would hold “massive agitations across the state”.