Irked by the delay in getting an audience with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, the Federation of All School Teachers of Meghalaya (FASTOM), which represents ad hoc teachers, will hold an indefinite rally at the Main Secretariat from Thursday afternoon.
The ad hoc teachers’ body is demanding a salary hike and eventually bringing them under the deficit system of government-supported schools. Yesterday the CM appeared to pour cold water on their hopes, saying that these demands would cost the state exchequer hundreds of crores of rupees every year, which Meghalaya could ill afford, and it would have a knock-on effect in other sectors as well.
“We have decided to launch another rally tomorrow and we will stay there, eat there until the government is compelled to respond to us,” FASTOM leader Mayborn Lyngdoh said at a press conference today.
The government is looking at making an offer to the teachers, though whether this will be acceptable to the latter is yet to be seen.
Lyngdoh questioned why the government could afford money on the Cherry Blossom Festival and the like but not teacher salaries. He also pointed out that the state budget had jumped to around Rs 17,000 crore from Rs 15,000 crore in 2018, meaning that Meghalaya does have access to greater funds.
Just from taxing alcohol, the government earns Rs 250 crore annually, Lyngdoh added, and he also wondered where the 3 percent cess, which should have netted Rs 48 crore for the education sector, was going.
“If the government is still saying it does not have money for us then where has the Rs 48 crore gone? All we are asking is Rs 18,000 enhancement and a 5 percent increment and the government will need only Rs 152 crore per annum and not what was claimed by the CM,” he opined.
