Tripura: Affected teachers issue 72 hours ultimatum to CM!

Agartala APR3-The teachers, facing axe following the Supreme Court verdict last week, today sought clarification from Chief Minister Manik Sarkar within 72 hours over the plan of his government to secure their income and livelihood.

The apex court on March 28 last upheld the decision of High Court of Tripura regarding termination of jobs of 10,323 government school teachers terming the procedure illegal, unfair and unconstitutional. However, till date the chief minister did not react on the verdict of the Supreme Court and the follow up plan of his government to manage the situation.

On the other hand, teaching learning in most of the rural schools has collapsed.

The teachers were not attending classes and in few cases the students humiliated them in the campus. The affected teachers of 10,323 had formed an association and held its first meeting here.

They told the media that immediately after the judgement of Supreme Court, Tripura Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty assured the government would remain with the victim and nobody would be jobless as long as the Left Front government is in power.

The minister further had stated that as soon as the chief minister returned from Tamil Nadu, the government would review the situation and announced its plan of action against the "inhuman judgement "of the Supreme court.

But the chief minister came three days ago, yet he neither issued any statement for the victim nor reacted on the situation, which became a cause of concern for the teachers, said president of the organisation Bimal Saha. "We are giving him three more days to clarify the government's stand on the issue and assure us how our livelihood will be secured after December this year. We have been provided job by the government but if there was any flout or mistake committed, had been done by the government only, we are not responsible," Mr Saha stated.

He warned unless the chief minister did not clarify the stand of the government regarding the future of the affected teacher within the stipulated time, the government would be responsible for any unwanted situation or event.

Meantime, then Chief Secretary Dr S K Panda in a statement yesterday said he had very limited role in framing the employment policy and execution of the earlier court orders regarding appointment of the teachers. In the statement, he shifted the responsibility to the then Secretary (Education), Secretary (Law) and Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty explaining the rule of his administration as Chief Secretary, which further erupted controversy regarding implications of the appointment of teachers.

Source:Agencies