The Nagaland Government Teachers’ Association (NGTA) has announced that it will intensify its protest from March 2, saying that its earlier agitations did not receive any response from the state government.Addressing the media in Kohima on February 27, the association said the decision came after the expiry of a seven-day ultimatum served to the government. The teachers had earlier carried out a two-day pen-down strike and held two days of peaceful demonstrations. However, the association said that its main demand has not been accepted even “in principle.”
The teachers are demanding that their salary components be included under the State Non-Development Expenditure head through the Directorate of School Education. According to the association, the current arrangement has affected their service conditions and financial security for a long time. On Friday, around 2,293 government teachers staged a protest at the Directorate of School Education in Kohima. The association said that despite repeated representations and meetings with the government, there has been no assurance on their demand. This, it said, has forced them to step up their agitation.
The next phase of the protest will begin on March 2 at Solidarity Park. The association stated that it will continue to adopt democratic means of protest until the matter is resolved at the policy level.At the same time, the NGTA said it remains open to dialogue if the government responds positively to its demand in principle. The announcement indicates growing dissatisfaction among government teachers across the state.
