DIMAPUR, JUN 21 (NPN): Nagaland RMSA Teachers Association (2016 Batch) has appealed to chief minister to intervene and ensure implementation of the court-directed pay scale for RMSA-2016 Graduate Teachers.
In an open letter addressed to the chief minister, the association said its members were appointed in 2016 under the erstwhile Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) through a transparent and competitive process to meet the academic needs of government high schools upgraded under the scheme.
The association stated that RMSA-2016 Graduate Teachers had served for over 10 years in urban, rural and remote areas, carrying out the same responsibilities as regular teachers, including teaching, invigilation of public examinations, evaluation of answer scripts, mentoring students and managing school activities.
It said that despite uninterrupted service, the teachers had remained on fixed pay, which had remained unchanged even as inflation and living costs continued to rise, resulting in increasing financial hardship and uncertainty. According to the association, the issue of pay parity led to a legal battle lasting nearly eight years. It stated that the matter eventually reached the Supreme Court, which in January 2026 dismissed both the Special Leave Petition and the subsequent Review Petition, thereby upholding the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench judgment affirming the principle of “Equal Pay for Equal Work”.
The association said that while the verdict had brought relief and renewed faith in the justice system, the court-directed pay scale remained unimplemented. It pointed out that more than four years had passed since the High Court judgment of March 16, 2022, and five months since the Supreme Court dismissed the Review Petition. Despite repeated representations and appeals to the authorities, the association said there had been no tangible progress and that the continued delay was causing hardship and disappointment among the teachers.
The association further maintained that the RMSA teaching posts were never casual or temporary positions, stating that they were created with the approval of the Cabinet, Finance Department and Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department to meet the permanent academic needs of upgraded government high schools.
It claimed that RMSA-upgraded schools had shown improvements in academic and co-curricular performance over the years, with students achieving success in academics, vocational education, science, arts and cultural competitions at district, state and national levels.
The association also cited the example of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, where RMSA teachers serving under similar circumstances had been regularised, and noted that other states and courts had increasingly recognised the need to provide security and fairness to teachers recruited under national education schemes.
Maintaining that its members had continued to serve students despite uncertainty over their own future, the association urged the state government to faithfully implement the judgment and provide clarity and certainty to the service conditions of RMSA-2016 Graduate Teachers.
It expressed hope that the issue would be resolved with “wisdom, fairness and statesmanship” and appealed for recognition of the decade-long service rendered by the teachers.
Monday, June 22, 2026