Shillong, Sep 9: Voice of the people Party (VPP) chief and Nongkrem MLA, Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, today called out what he says is the hypocrisy of the state government on the issue of teachers.
The opposition party, Basaiawmoit said, prioritises education, both from the point of view of the teachers as well as the welfare of the students.
According to him, the present government has taken credit for raising teacher salaries and claiming that no other government has done as much for the profession.
However, Basaiawmoit said the claims do not stand up to the government’s actions, specifically how it has decided to curb sanctioned deficit and government teaching posts for new hires.
“We who are following up on issues have seen the hypocrisy of this government,” he said. “Now the government is organising big functions to show that the MDA (Meghalaya Democratic Alliance) is doing what other past governments have never done to raise salaries through structured pay framework. But what happened is that, after some time, a notification was issued to announce that if there are any vacant posts of teachers in government or deficit schools, the new entrants will not get the same pay.”
Deficit teachers of the state have slammed the state government for abolishing sanctioned deficit and government teaching posts and downgrading them to lower pay under structured pay framework.
The VPP is greatly concerned about the “anti-teachers and anti-education policy” of the current government. This stance of the government will hurt the ability to find the best teachers to remain in the profession, Basaiawmoit added.
The opposition firebrand also attacked the government for taking new loans to repay old ones.
The VPP has been highly critical of the large loans Meghalaya has been taking out to fund various projects. The recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report into Meghalaya’s finances also noted that the state is experiencing “rising debt stress” and that nearly three-quarters of new borrowings are being used to pay off past liabilities.
Basaiawmoit said that the government appears to be spending excessively and he also criticised Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma for distributing money and cheques as though the state were financially prosperous.
Furthermore, he said that the government has repeatedly been urged to reduce its expenditure. He said that the government now appears to be borrowing from one source to pay another.
