Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan teachers called off their indefinite hunger strike on Monday after the state governor assured them that he will look into their demands of regularizing their jobs.
"We have called off our indefinite hunger strike after Governor Tathagata Roy assured that tri-partite talks between him, the state government and us would be held to decide our demand," Tripura Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Teachers' Welfare Association President Sajal Deb told the media.
"The Governor is now in Kolkata for medical treatment. We had a talk with him over phone. He will return to Agartala later this week and then he would hold the meeting," he added.
Deb argued that many states in country have already regularized the jobs of the SSA teachers.
Right now, opposition parties namely congress and BJP are supporting the demands of the SSA teachers.
"The SSA teachers in Tripura are getting salaries and some facilities similar to the regular government teachers. The government would soon introduce EPF (Employees Provident Fund) for the SSA teachers," Tripura Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty told the media.
"We have collected information about SSA teachers from many states. Most states have not regularised their jobs. Our Lok Sabha member Jitendra Chowdhury raised the issue in Parliament, but the Centre has remained silent on the regularisation of service of the SSA teachers," he said
He further said that if Center allocate the funds and make necessary amendments in the rules then state government will be more than happy to regularize the jobs of the SSA teachers.
There are around 5200 SSA teachers in Tripura which are getting the pay and allowances similar to the regular teachers.