SSA teachers in the State have decided to resort to non-cooperation movement with the State government from tomorrow till the government pays their pending salaries.
Informing this today, the Meghalaya SSA Schools Association (MSSASA) said that during the non-cooperation movement, no SSA teacher will attend the activities asked by the State government to perform in schools such as Swacch Bharat activity, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav programme, all awareness programmes, tree plantation and others.
“Apart from these, SSA teachers will not attend any other activities of government be it election duty including BLO duty, Covid awareness duty and other activities not linked to education,” MSSASA president Aristotle C. Rymbai said.
Rymbai also expressed resentment over the silence and adamant attitude of the State government to the demand of 12,541 SSA teachers for releasing of funds amounting Rs 104 crore being the additional amount to be borne by the State government on capping norms of ‘Samagra Shiksha’ apart from the 10 per cent State share with regard to financial support for payment of SSA teachers salary which is lying with the State government for the last three years.
“If this amount of Rs 104 crore is released it will be sufficient to pay our pending salaries for at least three months,” he added.
Stating that SSA teachers have not been paid their salary for almost five months, Rymbai said that no immediate solution seems visible till date.
“What hurts us most is the way the Education Department releases our salary for only one or two months after a gap of four to five months. This salary goes to debtors like banks, leaving us (SSA teachers) without a penny. The SSA teachers are on the verge of starvation and no one is paying heed to our grievances,” he said.
“It’s not only an issue of 12,541 SSA teachers but also a question of survival of thousands of people that comprise our family members who are suffering for no reason,” Rymbai said, adding that 95 per cent of SSA teachers have no other source of income other than salary.
According to the MSSASA president, due to the uncertainty of job and money, SSA teachers have deprived of sleep, peace of mind and are restless, especially at this point of time when they have to pay for the children’s school admission fees, school fees, clothes and other necessities for children during this festive season.
“If this continues for another one to two months it’s going to turn into a humanitarian crisis. The truth is that our financial position is extremely bad,” he said.
