The Assam government on Friday handed out appointment letters to 29,701 teachers.
Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the recruitment drive, timed ahead of the Assembly elections, was the largest ever.
Of the new recruits, 16,484 had been serving in non-provincialised schools for years. Some of them barely have two years of service left.
The remaining 13,217 are fresh recruits who had cleared the Teachers’ Eligibility Test.
“Our primary responsibility is ensuring education and health to the people. Some of you will attain the age of retirement soon. The situation created by the previous governments made you waste the prime time of your lives,” Dr. Sarma said at the job distribution programme at the Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who attended the programme, said he had made an announcement on August 15, 2020, that the State government would give 50,000 jobs.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given us the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. If we want to achieve it, we shall have to first build Atmanirbhar Assam. The teachers will have an important role to play in it. They shall have to ensure a skilled future generation which can compete all over the world,” he said.
School and college teachers are a force multiplier during elections. They comprise a sizeable chunk of the middle class voters along with their dependents.
A section of teachers appointed under various schemes earlier protested outside the stadium while the appointment letters were being distributed. Holding placards, they demanded justice and pending pay for more than a year.
The police detained some of the protesters during the event.
