KOHIMA, SEPTEMBER 26: Nagaland Directorate of School Education, while stating that regularisation of services of the 1,166 ad hoc teachers is restrained by Court order, today asked the agitating teachers to resume duties or face disciplinary action.
Responding to the All Nagaland Ad hoc Teachers Group (ANATG)-2015 Batch agitation, which started today, Principal Director of School Education Thavaseelan informed that the concerned teachers have already informed that the Government is constrained to regularize the ad hoc/contract their service in view of the Supreme Court and High Court standing order.
“In consideration of the plight of the teachers on ad hoc service, the Government has already granted scale pay with Revision of Pay (RoP) 2010 to them in spite of the financial constraints faced by the State”, he said.
The Government can consider regularization of service of Ad hoc Teachers only with direction from the Supreme Court and High Court, he said.
The Principal there requested all concerned not to resort to any kind of agitation in this regard and resume their duties with immediate effect.
Informing that the period of their absence will be treated as dies-non and the principle of ‘No Work, No Pay’ will be imposed, he said while also cautioning that disciplinary action will be initiated against the employees as per the Nagaland Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1968.
Further, in a separate letter addressed to the ANATG-2015 Batch, the School Education Department while referring to their ultimatums served on 16/08/2022, 21/07/2022, 20/03/2020 and 28/08/2018, informed that the issue of regularization of their ad hoc/contract service has been referred to P&AR and has been taken up by the Cabinet several times.
He said that by the High Court through an order dated 28/07/2017, suspended operation of P&AR’s O.M. No AR-5/ASSO/98 dated 04/08/2008 and 11/08/2016 which regulates regularisation issues.
Consequent to this, P&AR restrained Departments from sending proposals for regularization till the matter is resolved by the Court, he said.
Informing that the DoSE, however, re-submitted a Cabinet Memo in the case of 1166 Ad hoc Teachers for direction of the Cabinet on the issue, he said adding the Cabinet in its meeting on 29/08/2018 decided that till the Court matter is fully resolved, the teachers cannot be regularised.
Further, the Cabinet in its meeting dated 03/10/2018 reiterated that service of 1166 Ad hoc teachers cannot be regularised but decided that they would be given scale pay with 6th ROP of 2010. Accordingly, the scale of pay with 6th ROP has been granted, he said.
Writ Appeal No 2016 (K) of 2018 was filed by the State against the Guwahati High Court’s order which was dismissed by the Division Bench on 07/02/2019, he said.
“Despite this, in September 2021 on receipt of representation from the ANATG, the matter was referred to P&AR. The P&AR had conveyed that as a one-time measure irregularly appointed employees who had completed 10 years of continuous service as on 10/04/2006 can be regularised as per Supreme Court Judgement passed on 10/04/2006. Hence the Department was advised to identify such employees”, he said.
On the documents of regularization cited by the group – Home Department, Nagaland Public Works Department, Education Department, Sikkim Government’s Gazette, he said the matter was reprocessed.
As service regularization issues are restrained by Judicial Orders of the High Court, matter was submitted to the Chief Secretary and to authority concerned, he informed, adding that the Department has been advised to refer the matter to P&AR and Justice & Law and Finance Department.
The Principal Director informed that the matter was resubmitted to P&AR, while it commented that in view of judicial pronouncements, the proposed regularization of service is not feasible at this juncture.
As directed by the Chief Secretary, the Department has also sought legal opinion of the Advocate General, Nagaland and Law and Justice Department, for which reply is awaited, the Principal Director said.
(Page News Service)
