23,956 contractual teachers regularised in Assam; CM hails "red-letter day"

Guwahati, Sept 2: Thousands of contractual teachers flocked to the Veterinary Field in Khanapara on Monday. With dreams in their eyes and spring in their steps, they gathered for an event that promised to fulfil a long-held demand - regularisation of their jobs.

As the ceremonial distribution of permanent appointment letters began, the roar of the gathering that was brimming with contractual teachers, touched a crescendo.

“It's a special day. After years of working as a contractual worker, I’ve finally been made permanent. But it has been an agonising wait since 2012. Now, my family is secure because I’ve got a pension. Although our salary will be Rs 1,500 less according to the new pay scale, it's worth it," one of the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) teachers told The Assam Tribune.

In total, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma distributed 23,956 permanent appointment letters to contractual teachers during the event. These letters were given to contractual and state pool teachers of upper and lower primary schools under Samagra Shiksha, Assam.

“After we (BJP) came to power in 2021, we promised to provide one lakh government jobs. After handing over 23,956 appointment letters today, we can proudly say that, in the past four years, Assam has managed to offer 1,24,345 government jobs. No previous government of Assam has managed to do this. So, today is a Red-Letter day for Assam’s education system,” the Chief Minister said, addressing the gathering.

He further added that to bolster employment opportunities in the state, another 50,000 jobs would be created by May 2025.

“The teachers who received permanent appointment letters today will no longer have to worry about dearness allowance, as their salary will increase by 4% annually,” Sarma added.

Regarding the pension scheme, Sarma mentioned that those currently enrolled in the National Pension Scheme (NPS) will be able to transfer to the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), a central government scheme, from April 1.

“A discussion about the pension scheme will also be held during the cabinet meeting in Lakhimpur on September 4,” he said.

Earlier, on August 30, the last day of the autumn session of the assembly, the Opposition Congress had raised questions about the government's inefficiency in filling vacant teaching posts across the state.

Speaking to the press in the Assembly premises, Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed had highlighted significant gaps in the state's education system, revealing that 36,641 out of 96,170 teaching positions remain vacant across various levels of schooling.

He had also noted a shortage of 3,777 science teachers in higher secondary schools.

“Today, I would like to appeal to the Opposition not to politicise the issue of teachers. This is the difference between the BJP and the Congress—we don’t play politics with teachers or education,” the Chief Minister remarked.