SSA school teachers will hit the streets once again after their promised salaries did not reach the bank accounts of all teachers in East Khasi Hills district.
SSA teachers in the Khasi and Garo Hills had spent days and nights on the streets for four days to demand their dues, this month. With public opinion – and that of political parties both in and out of government – largely against the government on the teacher’s issue, the government decided to release their salaries before July 27.
However, according to the East Khasi Hills unit of the Meghalaya Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan Schools’ Association (MSSASA) salaries of the SSA teachers in the district have not been released when their colleagues in the other parts of the state were duly paid.
Unit president of MSSASA, Wiseterlyne Kharkongor told reporters today that they were surprised by the action of the government and took up the matter with East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner, Isawanda Laloo to intervene.
“Along with the members of the executive committee of the unit and the executive committee of the central body, we have decided to take our demands to the street,” Kharkongor said.
He said that the unit had sought a reply from the concerned department on the delay, to which they were informed that the delay was technical and that since there are thousands of teachers, it takes time.
“This is just an excuse because it is impossible to process salaries for one district and delay another,” he added.
It may be mentioned that the government had promised an additional Rs 44 crore to cover the salaries of February and March (which fall in the last financial year), since the corpus fund of Rs 78 crores of 2021-22 had exhausted. The salaries of the other months will be taken out of this financial year’s corpus fund.
