Teachers March towards Raj Nivas

PRESS NOTE

The Non-Gazetted Govt. Officers’ Association, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has organized a Mass Demonstration in front of the Directorate of Education at 3.15 p.m. and a Raj Niwas March at 04.30 p.m. today (08.04.2011) demanding reconsideration of the unilateral decision of the A & N Administration to increase the working hours of teachers in the islands in the pretext of implementation of Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act, 2009. Hundreds of teachers, mostly lady teachers, joined the procession to Raj Niwas wherea another hundreds of teachers were already waiting. A delegation of the Association met the Lt. Governor at 5.30 p.m. and presented a Memorandum urging him to reconsider the decision. The Memorandum urged the Lt. Governor to take up the matter with the Central Government to exempt the A & N Islands from the enhanced working hours (45 hours per week) considering the geographical condition of these islands. It was brought to the notice of the Lt. Governor that no State/UT on the mainland has increased the working hours of teachers as part of the Right to Education Act. The Lt. Governor, who gave a patient hearing to the delegation, directed the Principal Secretary(Edn) and Secretary (Edn) to hold further meetings with the Association representatives. Emerging from the meeting with Lt. Governor, Shri. D.Ayyappan, General Secretary of the Association while addressing the unprecedented huge crowd of teachers who thronged the road towards Raj Niwas from 5.00 p.m. onwards, declared that further course of action in the matter will be taken after the proposed meetings with the Chief Secretary and Secretary (Education). Shri S C Biswas, President, Shri T.S.Sreekumar, Asst. General Secretary, Shri Sadanand Rai, Organising Secretary, Smti Rekha Sharma, Organising Secretary of the Association and Shri H L Prasad and Shri Venkat Rama Rao, Vice President and Secretary respectively of the South Andaman Teachers’ Branch of the Association addressed the gathering and vowed to continue the agitation till the order of the Administration is withdrawn. Mass Demonstrations organized by the Association at various outstations like Diglipur, Rangat, Little Andaman etc., saw huge participation of teachers of those areas.