Kohima : Escalating their long-pending demand for service regularisation, the All Nagaland Adhoc Teachers Group (ANATG)-2015 Batch on Thursday announced that it will shift the venue of its ongoing agitation and hunger strike to the Directorate of School Education (DoSE) premises from Friday.

The move is aimed at intensifying pressure on the state government to resolve the issue affecting 1,166 teachers appointed on an adhoc basis prior to 2015.

The teachers’ body said the decision follows what it described as the government’s failure to provide a concrete timeline or firm policy commitment on regularisation, despite repeated representations and earlier assurances.

The group has been staging protests since February 4, demanding regularisation of adhoc teachers appointed before 2015. ANATG-2015 officials stated that relocating the protest site to the DoSE premises would allow them to directly engage with the department responsible for school administration and teacher management, and seek immediate administrative intervention.

The hunger strike, which began on Thursday as part of the agitation programme, will also be shifted to the Education Directorate complex, marking what the group termed a significant escalation of its “democratic movement for justice.”

Reiterating its core demand, ANATG-2015 said prolonged delays in regularisation have resulted in professional uncertainty, financial strain and social hardship for hundreds of teachers and their families. The group maintained that the issue goes beyond employment and concerns dignity, fairness and policy accountability.

“Repeated assurances without tangible outcomes have left us with no option but to intensify our democratic agitation,” representatives of the group said, urging the School Education Department and the Directorate of School Education to initiate meaningful dialogue and take urgent steps toward a resolution. They warned that the agitation would continue to escalate if their demands remain unaddressed.

Meanwhile, the School Education Department cited measures already undertaken in response to earlier protests. Following a representation in 2021 and agitations in September-October 2022, a High Powered Committee (HPC) was constituted, which submitted its report in June 2023.

In February 2024, the state cabinet adopted a policy for regularisation of contract and adhoc employees. This was followed by a resolution passed by the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly in March 2024. A one-time regularisation policy was subsequently notified on March 16, 2024, applicable to employees appointed against sanctioned posts prior to June 6, 2016. A Screening Committee was constituted in June 2024 to oversee verification.

According to the department, details of 2,487 adhoc and contract employees have been forwarded to the Screening Committee, and document verification and scrutiny are currently underway.

The Directorate of School Education has appealed to the protesting teachers to suspend their agitation and hunger strike, assuring them that their concerns would be taken up for consultation at the earliest.

However, ANATG-2015 maintains that despite the formation of committees and policy announcements, the absence of a clear timeline and definitive decisions has deepened uncertainty, prompting the renewed agitation.