The association of Shiksha Acharyas which is on a protracted agitation for their demand got some solace on Monday when senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Tarun Vijay assured them that he would raise their issue before the Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani.
A delegation of Shiksha Acharya / instructor association met Vijay on Monday and informed him about their single point demand of adjusting them as Shiksha Mitras in the education department. The President of the association, Devendra Bisht handed over a memorandum to Vijay and told him that the association is on a path of agitation for more than three and half years but state government is not heeding to their demand. Vijay assured the delegation that he would discuss the matter with Smriti Irani.
It is worth mentioning here that the members of the association are sitting on a long Dharna at old Raipur bus stand since June 3 2012. These Shiksha Acharyas were employed at a paltry wage of Rs 2500 per month to bring out of the school children in fold of elementary education under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in the year 2001. Apart from them for very deprived children like those living in streets some Alternative and Innovative Education (AIE) centers were also opened under SSA and instructors were posted in them. The government later decided to shut these EGS and AIE centers in a phased manner from the year 2008 and by March 31 2012 all such centers were closed. The state government adjusted some Shiksha Acharyas and instructors as Shiksha Mitras (SM) in primary schools of the state. Now the remaining 910 candidates are demanding to be adjusted as Shiksha Mitras who get a monthly stipend of Rs 13000 per month. Interestingly the state cabinet in its meeting on March 04 last year had cleared appointments of these 910 left out Shiksha Acharyas as Shiksha Mitras but the state government is yet to release the Government Order (GO) for it.