“During the August 28 negotiation meeting, the state government had promised to provide assistant teachers with an honorarium equivalent to a salary and access to Employee Provident Fund (EPF) benefits,” said District President of State Assistant Teachers Action Committee in Jamshedpur, Sumit Tiwari. Despite the fact that the term of Hemant Soren is going to end soon, the agreement was not passed in the state cabinet, prompting their decision to strike, he added. Tiwari further added that, before the Assembly polls in 2019, Hemant Soren had promised to regularize their services, but even after five years, he did not fulfil his promise. Promise to regularize the services of Para Teacher also featured in JMM’s election manifesto, he said. Before going on strike, on October 14, the day before the strike begins; the assistant teachers will stage a symbolic funeral procession for the finance minister, education minister and Giridih MLA who mediated the initial agreement. After the strike on October 15, the protesting teachers will march towards Ranchi on October 17 for an indefinite gherao (blockade) of chief minister’s residence. Despite the announcement made by the then School Education and Literacy Minister Late Jagarnath Mahto that services of Para teachers in Jharkhand would also be regularized on the lines of Bihar, no action was taken in this regard. Mahto has said that the blueprint of the manual will be prepared within a week under which, they will be paid salaries in spite of remunerations on the lines of ‘Shiksha Mitra’ in Bihar.
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