Guwahati: Teachers engaged in educating out-of-school students to enrol in with mainstream schools in Assam have set September 30 as the deadline for the state government to sort out their grievances.

Representatives of these teachers under the banner of Jyotikendra Sikshakarmi Santha on Monday launched an indefinite hunger strike in front of the office of Sarba Siksha Abhiyan, Kahilipara here in support of their demands.

In the evening, Basistha police rounded them up and kept in the police station where they continued their hunger strike.

"We withdrew our strike only when executive director of SSA, Dhrubajyoti Das, met and assured us that they would organise a meeting with education minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya. We have sought a solution to our problems by September 30. Otherwise, we will re-launch our protest," said Munmun Chetia, president of the organisation.

Chetia said there are 960 teachers in Assam toiling to bring back out-of-school children between six and 14 years to mainstream schools by educating them in 660 special teaching centres. They work on contract and are paid Rs 5,500 a month. She said teachers in many districts have not received their salaries for nearly four months.

These teachers started teaching in 2003 at Hard-to-Reach Centres assisted by Unicef. When SSA came into existence, these centres were renamed Jyoti Kendras. With the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 these Jyoti Kendras were converted into special training centres.

The teachers have been demanding gratuity, medical facility, provident funds and pension like other government employees.