The Meghalaya SSA Schools Association (MSSASA) has decided that it will hold a mass demonstration by marching on the Secretariat here on March 2 if the state government does not release SSA teacher salaries by February 28.
In a video message, MSSASA leader Aristotle Rymbai said that the association’s central body has decided to withdraw its non-cooperation movement that it began at the end of December, realising that it has not succeeded in its purpose. The non-cooperation involved boycotting non-teaching duties that the government occasionally demands of teachers, such as election duty, tree plantation drives, etc.
SSA teachers in Meghalaya have gone without salaries since October. Rymbai demanded that the pending dues be released by the end of the month, failing which SSA teachers from across the state will descend on Shillong for the march.
The state government has argued in the past that, as the SSA system is a central government undertaking, the state government can only pay the teachers when the funds arrive from the Centre. MSSASA has disagreed with this interpretation of the situation.
