Agartala: Terminated teachers held a demonstration in front of the education directorate in Agartala with the mortal remains of one of the teachers who died after he allegedly suffered a massive stroke on Monday.
The deceased teacher was identified as Ajit Sutradhar, a resident of Noaniyamura in West Tripura. Speaking with reporters, Dalia Das, leader of the Joint Movement Committee (JMC) said Sutradhar had huge debts and was under depression after failing to make ends meet.
Sutradhar is survived by his wife, daughter and ailing father.
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“This is due to the inhumane behaviour by the state government which has no space for people. Another teacher lost the battle to get the job back. Where has humanity gone? When will their heart melt?” asked Das.
She also said that they have continued their sit-in demonstration for the past 50 days, yet nobody from the state and administration has bothered to speak with them.
“The chief minister had promised to solve the problems in two months, but they are yet to take any positive step. The education minister has repeatedly appealed to sit-in examinations. How can a teacher who is 50-year-old prepare for an exam when he has to earn bread for the family doing odd things?” Das questioned.
The leaders of the JMC also alleged that along with the people, the termination facing teachers too helped them from the government. However, now they have forgotten their promises made before the elections.
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The teachers continued their protest outside the education directorate for hours and then took the body to the protesting site in front of Agartala city centre to pay the floral tribute before taking the body to Battala crematorium.
Speaking with EastMojo, Bijoy Krishna Saha, leader of JMC said that a meeting has been called in the evening to decide the next course of action.
“We had served a four-day ultimatum to the state government. We will decide what needs to be done tomorrow after the meeting,” Saha added.
With the demise of Ajit Sutradhar, the death toll has surged to 84 with five deaths in the past one month.
Rumi Debbarma, one of the terminated teachers, had consumed poison on January 9. Uttam Tripura (32) died by suicide due to stress and mental trauma on January 2 last.
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The teachers have been protesting since December 7 last in front of Agartala City Centre amid the cold weather. However, nobody from the government has met with them or called for a meeting.
The selection of 10,323 teachers was conducted according to advertisements issued in 2002, 2006 and 2009, which was challenged before the High Court of Tripura by Tanmoy Nath and others. Later, the High Court of Tripura announced the termination of the teachers in 2014, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2017.
Interestingly, the number of terminated teachers has now come down to 8,882 after around 1,400 of the 10,323 were recruited for jobs in other departments of the government. But the remaining 8,882 terminated teachers continue their struggle.
