Sixty-two voluntary teachers resigned from the Gorkha Janmukti
Morcha-affiliated Janmukti Insecure Secondary Teachers' Organisation
today and formed an apolitical organisation, in a move that is being
seen as a blow to the hill party.
The newly-formed Hill Secondary Temporary Teachers' Organisation,
which mostly has members from Kalimpong, has said it would welcome the
support of any political outfit that will fight for its cause.
"Sixty-two members tendered their resignations from the JISTO today
and the letter has been sent to Morcha president Bimal Gurung. Earlier,
15 JISTO members had quit," Roshan Chhetri, the chief-co-ordinator of
the new outfit, said.
"We have formed an apolitical front called the Hill Secondary
Temporary Teachers' Organisation (HSTTO). A 10-member working committee
has also been formed, including representatives from Jhaldhaka, Mungpoo,
Gorubathan, Rungli-Rungliot, Rambi, Bagracote, Lava, Barbote and
Kalimpong. This week, we will go to Kurseong and Darjeeling where more
members of the JISTO will join us," he said.
"There are around 170 voluntary teachers from Kalimpong subdivision
and 80 of them have joined us (including the 15 who had quit JISTO
earlier). We will remain apolitical but welcome the support of any
party. Even if Morcha takes up our cause, we will welcome the move,"
Chhetri said.
Around 500 voluntary teachers in the hills have been demanding job
regularisation for almost a year and on November 19, 2015, Morcha formed
the JISTO Movement Committee to spearhead the agitation. But on July 8,
this year, the committee, which had recently been critical of the
Morcha general secretary and GTA executive Sabha member in charge of
education, Roshan Giri, for the hill body's failure to solve their
problem, was dissolved. The JISTO, however, continued to operate.
Asked about the development, Giri said: "I do not want to make any comment."
Chhetri said, in 2012, the GTA and the state had appointed 269
teachers. "We were appointed as voluntary teachers by the school
managing committees before 2014. The NCTE rules came into force only
after 2014. We believe that the NCTE guidelines should not be applicable
to us," he said.
An observer said this is the first time in the recent past that so
many members of a Morcha front have quit to form a new outfit."This
could be worrisome for the party," he said.(TT)
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