It is a mere excuse of the current Meghalaya government to continually blame the poor condition of the state’s exchequer for not being to pay or raise salaries, leader of the opposition Dr Mukul Sangma said today.
Speaking to the media today, the former Chief Minister said that past governments were always able to ensure that the deserving teachers of the state received salary increments even when there were financial constraints.
“Financial constraints have always been there, they will always be there. Whether it is the Meghalaya government, or any other state, it will always be there, including the Union government but we have to look at the issue of justice,” Dr Sangma said. “Justice for the citizens of the state. And that’s the reason why, in spite of the constraints in preceding years, when we decided to increase the salary of teachers, we did so by 100 percent in the course of eight years.”
He also took a dig at Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma for describing ad hoc schools as private institutions. Dr Sangma said that they are properly described as government-aided schools established by communities in areas where there is no government school. A community organisation that wants to open a school in its area then seeks a go-ahead from the state, which supports them under a government policy.
The opposition leader also slammed the government for the delay in the release of salaries of its employees and said that this demonstrates that the Meghalaya government is in a real mess.
Despite passing a budget in the Assembly, Dr Sangma said that the Meghalaya government’s budget is just a hopeful plan rather than one that is concrete.
The government has made tall claims, Dr Sangma said, that the Education Department has been given the highest allocation it has ever had and yet is unable to pay teachers.
“One thing is very clear – budget is one thing and actual money that is given to the department is something else,” he quipped, adding that there are delays to those drawing pension support, disability payments, etc.
“This is indicative of the priority that the leaders in the current government have. That means their priority is definitely misdirected and that is a concern for everybody,” Dr Sangma said.
The former Chief Minister said he is still conducting research but that preliminary findings indicate that there are “hundreds of crores of rupees” that are available to the government but which are being redirected.
