The retired school teachers of Meghalaya today said that the government should not think that they did not contribute anything to the exchequer.
“We may not have contributed in terms of cash, but in terms of human resources we have contributed a lot for the interest of the state…for the welfare of the state. This is one aspect the state government should ponder upon. When there are no teachers this state will not reach anywhere,” RS Marbaniang vice president of the Meghalaya Retired Deficit School Teachers’ Association (MRDSTA) said.
The association met at Jail Road boys’ Higher Secondary School to discuss issues of pension, Death Cum Retirement Gratuity (DCRG) for the retired deficit school teachers.
Marbaniang said that in comparison to the legislators, who serve only for five years they are entitled for pension, but the teachers who serve for 25-30 years and whose pay are meagre do not get any retirement fund.
He said that they do not have enough funds to save money or properly educate their children.
“We teach other people’s children but for ourselves it has become difficult to fight to make ends meet,” the MRDSTA vice-president told reporters.
Marbaniang said that if the government wants education in the state to thrive the government should address the important issues of the teachers.
He said that the association’s demand is not only for their personal benefit but for the state’s education in general.
The MRDSTA vice-president said that those teachers who are efficient and want to join the profession should have an incentive to do so.
“How will they join when we have to go to the street and get beaten up to demand for our rights? We are sad to criticise, at this age after retirement we can’t hit the streets to agitate for our rights,” Marbaniang said.
He said that the policy makers should address the plight of the teachers and if they don’t Meghalaya as a state will never improve.
Meanwhile, MRDSTA president ED Nongsiang said that MLAs make their own laws to pay themselves pensions but the teachers however they may struggle it has become difficult for them to get their benefits.
According to Nongsiang, most of the retired deficit teachers are old with no money, struggling and living a life of destitution and penury.
“We are living a very pathetic, uncomfortable and miserable life at the twilight of our lives. At one point in our lives we were living a dignified life but now we are struggling. We at present are begging from our children and from the society to carry on living,” the MRDSTA president said.
He urged the government to pay them a pension so that they can live a decent life on their own.
Nongsiang informed that there are around 3000 retired deficit school teachers right from the primary to the higher secondary level.
He recalled that in 1996-1997, the government tried to remove the deficit school teachers out of the purview of the 4th Pay Commission.
But after they protested the deficit school teachers were put under the purview of the Pay Commission.
Moreover, the MRDSTA has demanded the enhancement of the DCRG scheme from Rs. 3.5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh.
Nongsiang said that the government has enhanced the DCRG of teachers who retired on January 1, 2017 upto March 31, 2022.
“We have written to the government that it should also consider for those teachers who retired before 2017 and also for those teachers who retired after 2022,” he said.
The MRDSTA president also said that there is a draft scheme of Pension for Meghalaya Non-Government Deficit Schools and Teachers Employees Rules 2023, but yet to be approved by the government.
Nongsiang informed that during their last meeting with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, he assured them that since they are holding sanctioned posts in the deficit schools they are eligible for pension.
“But that assurance is still pending. The officers have not been able to project it to the government for approval,” he said.
Nongsiang informed that Saturday’s meeting decided that the association will give the government time till March 2024 to meet their demands, failing which they will resort to agitation.
