A delegation of the Meghalaya SSA School Association (MSSASA) today met Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui to discuss the issue of pending salaries for its teachers.
Salaries for SSA teachers have now been pending for five months.
Meanwhile, the All Garo Hills SSA School Teachers’ Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request that the pending wages be disbursed.
MSSASA president Aristotle Rymbai said that they have not been paid since February. The delegation also discussed the issue of a salary hike for the SSA teachers.
Rymbui was handed a proposal asking the government to set aside a bigger share of the budget for SSA teachers.
“The Education Minister informed us that the delay in releasing the salaries of the last financial year, 2021-22, is due to insufficient funds,” Rymbai said.
The state government has often blamed the delayed release of funds from the central government for the tardiness in paying SSA teachers; the SSA scheme is a central initiative. Instead of waiting for the Centre to release funds before paying the teachers, the state government should instead put aside money to pay the teachers in case of delays, MSSASA argues.
Meanwhile, Rymbui acknowledged that SSA teachers in Meghalaya have had to bear many hardships, such as waiting for their salaries to be paid.
For five months’ worth of salaries, approximately Rs 150 crore is required, he informed.
“I told them that next week, probably, we will sit and discuss the matter to ease the hardships of the SSA teachers,” the minister said.
