Agitation of dismissed sahayak teachers in Chhattisgarh

Report by Mazdoor Ekta Committee correspondent

2900 “sahayak” (assistant) teachers in Chhattisgarh are struggling to save their jobs. On 12 January, the teachers took out a militant 5 km crawling rally. Earlier on 10 January, NCET (National Council of Teachers Education) took out a funeral procession and burnt an effigy. They have been on mass hunger strike since 3 January. The assistant teachers have been adopting different forms of protest against their dismissal and demanding from government the repeal of their dismissal.

chattisgrh-Teacher-protestGovernment teachers of Chhattisgarh have supported the struggle of dismissed B.Ed assistant teachers. They are preparing a strategy to express their support of these teachers. Chhattisgarh Government ClassIII Employees Union has also supported the agitation of these assistant teachers.

According to media reports, at the present 33 thousand teacher posts are lying vacant in Chhattisgarh,. In such a situation, 3000 teachers have been fired from their jobs.

What is the reason for their dismissal?

It is known that a notification was issued on May 4, 2023 for the recruitment of assistant teachers on 6285 posts in Bastar and Surguja divisions. The recruitment examination was conducted from June 2023. The result was released in July 2023. The School Education Department had started verification and counselling for recruitment on the basis of the result released. Counselling of B.Ed candidates was also done and about 2900 assistant teachers were appointed. After the appointment, they also worked for several months.

chattisgrh-Teacher-protestMeanwhile, a decision of Bilaspur High Court came in April 2024. In the decision, it was said to give appointment to D.E.Ed (Diploma in Elementary Education) candidates instead of B.Ed candidates. A petition was filed in the Supreme Court against this decision of the High Court, which was rejected by the Supreme Court. On 10 December 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of Bilaspur High Court against the B.Ed assistant teachers, and ordered the Education Department to take action on it within two weeks. After the court’s decision, the Education Department issued an order to dismiss 2900 assistant teachers on the late night of 31 December.

The B.Ed helper teachers started a march from Ambikapur to Raipur on 14 December to retain their appointment. After reaching Raipur, the journey turned into a dharna from 19 December. During this time, the teachers also sent letters of their situation to the government and public representatives.

Recently, the youth of many states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh have been protesting against corruption and unemployment in recruitment competitions. Due to increasing unemployment in the country, people are fighting among themselves for a single job. The question paper of recruitment examinations for jobs is leaked or the recruitment examination falls prey to corruption or candidates are selected for the job and later its selection is cancelled – the state and its agencies are responsible for this.

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