MGLPCTA not willing to meet Govt for talks

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 6, 2022

Police fired tear gas on Thursday at the agitating contractual teachers and their family members and children, who took out a protest march to the Secretariat against the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government’s failure to reinstate their services.

Pregnant teachers were also among those affected by the tear gas and lathi charge incident, which has drawn severe criticism from all quarters of society.

Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and other NGOs, who came to extend their solidarity with the protesters, have strongly condemned the use of excessive force against the teachers and children and demanded action against those responsible for issuing such an order.

Hundreds of contractual teachers under the banner of the Meghalaya Government Lower Primary Contractual Teachers’ Association (MGLPCTA) have been staging an indefinite protest at Barik for the past one month.

Irked at the government’s adamant attitude, the agitating teachers took out the protest march and continued with their sit-in-demonstration in front of the entrance gate of the secretariat till they were given back their jobs.

The agitating teachers also refused to meet the state government and asked the district magistrates on the ground to convey the message that “they are not ready to be fooled again and that they will only call off their agitation if the government issued an order for reinstatement.”

President of  MGLPCTA Birbor Riangtem said, “We have already met the chief minister seven times. He even chased us away from his room. Therefore, we don’t want to meet the government as they will only fool us so what is the point of having dialogue across the table? The CM had assured us to examine but there has been no positive outcome even after two years have lapsed. This is doing injustice to us teachers.”

“We are also not willing to meet the education minister because he was the one who had closed all doors for us, he was the one chasing us to Assam and Delhi. Similarly, we are not willing to meet the chief secretary as he had also fooled us with his words. Our clear message to the government is if they want us to call off this agitation, they should come up with an order to reinstate our services as we want to go back to our schools, that’s all,” Riangtem stated.

He however said there has been no communication from the government that they will come up with an alternative solution to resolve the issue of contractual teachers.

The president of the association also condemned the alleged highhandedness of the police by using tear gas against the teachers and their families.

“Using of tear gas is a violation of our human rights. We are not terrorists, we are teachers. We were marching peacefully but the police and district administration blocked us and started firing tear gases despite them having been informed about the presence of our children and pregnant teachers,” he said.

Riangtem, who was injured during the lathi charge, was accompanied by his two sons during the protest. When asked, he said, “My children tell me father I want to go to school but now I have been terminated for two years how will I provide education for my children – that is why my family has come together to support me.”

Meanwhile, the education minister has invited the agitating teachers for talks on Friday. This was informed to the MGLPCTA president by the deputy commissioner of East Khasi Hills through an official communiqué on Thursday evening.

Earlier, Chairman of the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) Education Cell Raymond Kharjana said the union expressed its strong opposition against barbaric and inhumane acts committed by the police department as well as the state government.

“They are mere teachers who are protesting in a peaceful manner. The question arises here is why there is a need to use excessive force for example firing of tear gas on these protesting teachers and there are also female teachers some of whom are also pregnant,” he said.