By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 13: The Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Monday asked the National People’s Party-led government to immediately withdraw the notification that bars teachers, lecturers and professors from holding the office of any political organisation or local bodies.
Speaking to reporters after submitting a representation to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on this issue, VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit said the notification was a knee-jerk reaction from the state government to prevent many professors and lecturers from enrolling themselves with their new party.
“It seems that the government is trying to push us back to the Stone Age era. The notification is a regressive step,” he said.
Basaiawmoit said it was really unfortunate that the government was preventing the intellectuals and the educated from contributing politically to the state.
He claimed the chief minister told them that they had issued this notification since they wanted the educationists to concentrate more on education rather than involve in politics.
“The fact is that we cannot improve education by barring teachers, lecturers and professors from participating in politics. By giving this kind notification, the government is depriving the state of (potentially) good leaders and policymakers,” the VPP president said.
Basaiawmoit said they will not stop till this notification is withdrawn.
Sangma, he said, had assured them that the government would relook into this notification.
The VPP president said they had reminded the CM about the constructive role of members of the teaching community, especially in the years preceding Meghalaya’s statehood and also during the Hill State Movement.
In the representation submitted to the CM, Basaiawmoit said Meghalaya was able to produce from the teaching community political stalwarts such as GG Swell (who was instrumental in the establishment of the NEHU in Shillong), MN Majaw (who brought about the Meghalaya Transfer of Land (Regulation) Act), Hoover Hynniewta (member of the 2nd Lok Sabha) and RS Lyngdoh (the first Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly).
“These illustrious leaders with a teaching background were the pride of the people of the state. There have been many other political and community leaders from the teaching community who contributed to the state,” he said in the representation.
Basaiawmoit also said they reminded the CM that university and college teachers are governed by the UGC regulation and that the state government cannot arbitrarily make rules for them.
“Though the state government has the power to legislate on education, the rules should be framed in conformity with the UGC regulations,” he said.
The UGC president pointed out that the UGC had in May 2019 decided that teachers of universities and colleges elected as MPs or MLAs can continue to teach without requiring to take any kind of leave.
He said it has been well established by the Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court in its order issued on December 7, 2007, that employees in government-aided educational institutions are not government employees.
The Meghalaya government has always taken a similar position, he added.
“Since employees of government-aided educational institutions are not government employees, barring them from participating in election activities is a gross violation of their fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India,” Basaiawmoit said.