The All-Nagaland Adhoc Teachers’ Group (ANATG) 2015 batch has announced that its ongoing agitation will continue on Monday, with members set to gather at NSF Naga Solidarity Park while awaiting a written response from the State Government regarding their long-pending demand for regularisation.
According to representatives of the group, members will assemble tomorrow and wait for an official reply from the department. The ANATG stated that if no satisfactory response is received by the end of office hours, the agitation may be intensified, including the possible resumption of the hunger strike that had been suspended following the signing of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) Agreement in October 2022.
“The hunger strike in 2022 was only suspended because of the HPC agreement; it was never the end goal of our movement,” a member of the group told Mokokchung Times.
The fresh development comes in the wake of a protest staged earlier, after which the ANATG 2015 batch formally submitted a representation to the Chief Secretary through the Commissioner & Secretary of School Education & SCERT, demanding immediate regularization of 1,166 teachers as per the HPC Agreement 2022.
According to the representation, meetings were held between ANATG representatives, department officials and the Chairperson of the screening committee on February 4 and 5. Following deliberations with its general members, the ANATG core committee urged the government to implement the agreement without further delay.
The group noted that the HPC Agreement had mandated the constitution of a High-Powered Committee within 15 days of signing in October 2022 and the resolution of service regularization by December 2023 timelines that remain unfulfilled.
Earlier, ANATG had indicated that further democratic protests could be suspended depending on the department’s written response. However, members have now stated that agitation will continue, though activities saw a temporary pause due to a public holiday and the absence of several senior government officials from station.