Staff Reporter
Shillong:
The agitating contractual teachers, who were protesting for the reinstatement of their jobs under the banner of the Meghalaya Government Lower Primary Contractual Teachers Association (MGLPCTA), called off their sit-in, on August 5.
“We have called off the sit-in demonstration but we will start a new form of agitation from now on. In this new form of protest, we will be handing over all our important documents – EPIC, Aadhar, PAN card, driving license, Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) certificate and mark sheet, college and matriculation mark sheet, and other documents – to the government,” said Birbar Riangtem, president of the association, before handing over his documents to the magistrate.
“I have given all my documents to the government. And from now on, if anybody, be it the police or whoever wants any information about me, they should approach the Chief Minister,” said an emotional Riangtem.
Lashing out at the government, Riangtem drew similarities of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s governance with that of the Pharaoh’s rule, calling the later better.
“The reign of Pharaoh in the Bible is better than the government of Conrad Sangma. With 10 miracles, Moses was able to set Israel free. We are submitting our documents and we also met the concerning officials; we have done our part. We have been reduced to slaves, we have also been made to hand over our important documents to the government,” he said.
Riangem said that the association will not be available for any kind of discussion with the government.
“We have nothing more to say to the government and please do not call us for talks. We have met the Chief Minister seven time and the education minister Lahkmen Rymbui twice, but they couldn’t do anything for us. We have also met the officials of the education department numerous times,” he said.
Earlier on August 4, the members of the association had met Conrad and were told that they cannot be reinstated. The contractual teachers were removed from their jobs in January 2021.