The Meghalaya High Court has directed the State government to complete the process of implementing the Contributory Provident Fund for non-government college teachers in the State within one month from today.
The order was issued today by the division bench of Acting Chief Justice Hamarsan Singh Thangkhiew and Justice B Bhattacharjee on a writ petition filed by the Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association (MCTA).
During today’s hearing, the Education Department submitted before the court a report dated September 5, 2024 which stated that the department is complying with the order passed by the division bench on May 30.
Advocate General Amit Kumar also told the court that substantial compliance has been made and whatever has been directed by the court on the matter has been put in place.
However, MCTA lawyer R Mazumdar raised a strong objection to the contents of the report especially at paragraph 12 and stated that necessary approval is yet to be obtained from the State government, such as signing of the agreement with State Bank of India (SBI) for opening a Centralised Provident Fund account.
The Advocate General replied by telling the High Court that the report is in fact showing the progress made in compliance with the order of the court.
“In consideration thereof, as it has been submitted that the progress is on, it is expected that the entire exercise be completed within a period of one month from today,” the High Court said in its order. The next hearing on the matter will be held on October 1.
Under the Centralised Provident Fund for all non-government schools and colleges in the State, contributions would have to be made by employer and employees to the fund.
A Centralised Provident Fund account is required to be created by the State government in a nationalised bank for this purpose.
As it stands today, the contributions of the employer and subscriber are still being deposited into a savings bank account which is not in keeping with the provision of the Meghalaya Non-Government School and College Employees Centralised Provident Fund Scheme Act, 1969.
