The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today dissolved the JISTO Movement
Committee that was spearheading an agitation for regularisation of over
500 voluntary teachers in hill schools and was critical of Roshan Giri's
handling of the issue.
The movement committee had criticised GTA executive sabha member in
charge of education Giri for quite sometime for his alleged failure to
solve the issue. The committee had set a deadline of 20 days to fulfil
the demand that ended today.
Binay Tamang, the assistant general secretary of the Morcha, today
said the party's central committee was dissolving the JISTO Movement
Committee. "Bimal Gurung has decided to dissolve the JISTO Movement
Committee, which had been formed from our frontal organisation, JISTO,
to spearhead their movement. The frontal organisation, JISTO, however,
will not be dissolved," Tamang said. The claim has been contested by the
committee.
Asked about the reason for dissolving the committee, Tamang said: "It
is being dissolved for various reasons," but gave none of the reasons.
The Janmukti Insecure Secondary Teachers' Organisation (JISTO), a
frontal organisation of the Morcha, has been demanding that more than
500 voluntary teachers in six junior high schools (till Class VIII), 52
high schools (up to Class X) and 71 higher secondary schools in the
hills be made permanent. The School Service Commission (hills), which
essentially is to cover the present GTA area, has been defunct since
2003 and that is why the schools had to appoint the voluntary tea-chers.
Amit Gurung, the co-ordinator of the JISTO Movement Committee, denied
Tamang's claim that the JISTO and the committee were different
entities. "It is the same entity. The JISTO central committee was
dissolved by Bimal Gurung and the JISTO Movement Committee was formed in
the Morcha's Patlabas office on November 19, 2015."
"It is because we expressed our displeasure over Roshan Giri's
inability to solve the problem that the committee is being dissolved. It
only proves that the Morcha is running away from the problem rather
than solving it. Efforts are being made to break our unity but all
teachers are together and we will continue our agitation," he added.
Asked about the next step, Amit said: "Since they dissolved the committee only today, time will tell what move we will take."
On July 5, Giri had met state education minister Partha Chatterjee
and demanded that an ad hoc selection board be formed to make 519
voluntary teachers permanent.
Amit today said Giri was not aware of the number of the voluntary
teachers. "At times, he talks about 500-odd teachers. At other times, he
states there are 519 teachers. But from the GTA secretariat, we have
found out that there are 570 voluntary teachers," he said.
After the Calcutta meeting on July 5, Chatterjee had said there were
several part-time (voluntary) teachers who did not fulfil the
eligibility criteria recommended by the National Council for Teacher
Education, the apex body that regulates teachers' education in the
country. He said the government would consider absorbing the teachers
with required qualifications.(TT)
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