JKNPP chief on 24-hour hunger strike for ReT teachers' demand

The president of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) Balwant Singh Mankotia today sat on a 24-hour long hunger strike here extending support to the protesting Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers.
"ReT scheme proved to be a panacea for the wailing plight of education department by providing quality education, increasing literacy rate in the state and raising the standard of education," Mankotia said.
He said the appointment of ReT teachers in the schools has minimised dropout rate and increased enrolment.
"It is sheer irony that the teaching fraternity under the scheme has been continuously facing the wrath of meagre wages and lack of service benefits," he said.

Mankotia alleged the ReT teachers were being given step motherly treatment by the government and as well as the department and harassed day after day by issuing unjustified orders.
ReT teachers have been holding protest after the state government issued an order to start the verification process of the education qualification documents submitted by them at the time of their appointment.

The ReT teachers have alleged that the government has arbitrarily started the process of verification of their degrees obtained through distance mode and by various study centers including the degrees issued by Jammu University, Kashmir University and IGNOU.
They say that despite the direction of the High Court to scrutinise the degrees of all general line teachers, masters, lecturers and other employees of education department, the government whimsically ordered the scrutiny of the degrees pertaining to only ReTs and maintained that it has hurt the pride and dignity of ReT community.

The ReT teachers accused that they have been exempted from exam duties on the direction of chief education officers.
They also alleged that their regularisation has also been delayed and they have not been paid salary for several months.