Imphal: Six hundred and three higher secondary school contract lecturers appointed in 2019 have declared to launch a six-day pen-down strike on Monday, demanding the immediate implementation of their long-pending regularisation order passed by the Manipur Cabinet in 2022.
The announcement was made on Saturday by Irengbam Malemnganbi, General Secretary of the Lecturer Association Manipur, during a press briefing at the Manipur Press Club, here.
“It was not easy to take the decision to go on strike. Repeated appeals fell on deaf ears, we had no choice,” she said.
The lecturers many of whom are continuing their duties without pay, some even from relief camps due to the ongoing unrest say they feel abandoned despite having a Cabinet-backed regularisation order in hand.
According to Malemnganbi, on January 8, 2022, the then Manipur Cabinet issued an order for the regularisation of the 603 lecturers. It also clearly stated that payment of entitled salaries and allowances would commence from April 1, 2023. The order was issued with full concurrence from the Personnel and the Finance departments.
“We have been serving with good hope. Some of us are still working while staying at relief camps. Three of our colleagues have died in the past year without ever receiving a regularised salary,” Malemnganbi said in emotion.
“If we do not receive a written assurance from the government, we will be forced to intensify our agitation,” the association warned.
