Ranchi: The Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh, alongside several other educational organizations including the Jharkhand Rajya Urdu Shikshak Sangh and the Jharkhand Pradesh Prathamik Shikshak Sangh, convened an emergency meeting at Shanti Bhawan today to rally support for their ongoing demands. The meeting was co-chaired by State Convenor Amin Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar.
Following extensive discussions, the assembled leaders submitted a five-point demand letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Key representatives, including Ahmed and spokesperson Arun Kumar Das, recounted a recent dialogue with the Chief Minister, during which they outlined the teachers’ pending and legitimate concerns. The Chief Minister assured them that efforts would be made to address these issues.
The associations have actively advocated for teachers’ rights through protests and hunger strikes in recent years, gaining acknowledgment from numerous state MLAs regarding the validity of their demands. Last month, they also engaged with several ministers to emphasize their requests.
Key demands presented today included: increase in retirement age; economic justice; pay scale upgrades; home district transfers and reduction of NGO interference.
They urged the government to raise the retirement age for all state employees, including teachers, from 60 to 62 years, citing examples from neighboring states like Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
They called for the implementation of the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) for teachers, who currently do not receive the same promotional benefits as other state employees.
Teachers appointed before 2006 remain without upgraded pay scales despite recommendations from the Sixth Pay Commission, while secretariat employees received this benefit in 2019.
The association requested relaxed rules for home district transfers, enabling teachers to return to their native districts and promote mother-tongue education.
An appeal was made to free the education department from NGO interference to maintain the importance of teachers in improving the educational system.
The meeting was attended by prominent members, including Vijay Bahadur Singh, Shailendra Kumar Suman, and Dr. Sudhanshu Kumar, among others.
