With a mind to reach a decisive stand on issues of their regularisation and increase in wage, around 20,000 para-teachers from all over the State gathered here on Saturday.
The teachers, gathered at Morhabadi Ground, had a plan to lay siege to the Chief Minister’s residence but were stopped at the ground itself by police forces.
later, a five-member delegation of Jharkhand Pradesh Para Shikshak Mahasangh was invited by CM Raghubar Das for talks, following which the demonstrating teachers decided to call off the protests for now.
Talking to delegates, the CM said, “A meeting of senior officials of the State has been called on Monday and the next day to deliberate upon your demands and their solution. The final decision in this regard will be taken on Wednesday, after consulting para-teachers.”
The two-day high-level meeting will focus on financial aspect of the salary hike demanded by para-teachers along with other grievances pertaining to their services.
School Education and literacy Secretary Aradhana Patnaik will convey the outcome of the discussion to their representatives on Wednesday and their suggestions will be taken into account.
After this, a meeting between the para-teachers’ delegates and the State authorities will be held on Wednesday evening in a bid to reach a final decision.
“Keeping in view the State’s financial condition and the grants from the Central Government for para-teachers, a step will be taken to meet their demands,” the CM said.
The delegates confirmed to defer their protests with immediate effect.
“The promises by CM were satisfactory. We will propose to our 47-member executive body to stop the ‘Ghera Daalo – Dera Daalo’ campaign,” stated JPPSM general secretary Vikrant Jyoti.
Coming to know of the assurances by the Chief Minister himself, the para-teachers have ceased active protests, but they will not be vacating Morhabadi Ground soon.
“For tonight, we will be staying at the Morhabadi Ground and will await further development regarding our demands. We will be off to our duties as soon as our demands are met,” stated para-teacher’s union member Manoj Kumar.
The schools manned by para-teachers will remain closed for this period of time. Will it not affect the education of students studying in this schoolIJ
“Yes, but the Government is responsible for this,” he said.
Ramesh Kumar Gupta, a para-teacher from Palamu said, “The State Government has not paid heed to our pleas for long, which has forced us to begin protests.
The students and their studies will be affected but the apathy of past regimes towards our issues is to blame for that.”