Himachal Pradesh Primary Teachers Call Off 43-Day Hunger Strike Following Govt Guarantee

Primary teachers in Himachal Pradesh called off their 43-day hunger strike on Saturday following the state government guarantee that their demands would be met.

A meeting was conducted here with Education Minister Rohit Thakur, and an agreement was arrived at on approximately 20-21 points, after which the teachers decided to call off the strike.

It was also decided that the directorate of elementary and higher education was to be the same.

Besides this, the government will also review the suspended teachers, Thakur added, stating that the teachers were made aware that their promotions would not suffer.

On March 28, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet cleared the promotion of the directorate of elementary education to the directorate of school education.

This new directorate would manage education from pre-nursery to Class 12, whereas the directorate of higher education would manage colleges and look into all the issues of higher education.

After making this decision, about 10 teachers were suspended for demonstrating, using derogatory language against the government and absenting themselves from school.

The Primary Teachers' Association of Himachal Pradesh's President Jagdish Sharma affirmed the strike was suspended following the meeting with Thakur. 

Sharma added that a committee will probably be formed to create a directorate of primary as well as higher education to be regulated by a single director.

He further added that there would be no alterations in other buildings without the committee's suggestion, and primary teachers will also be made members of this committee