The opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the state government of under allocating funds for SSA teachers in Meghalaya.
TMC MLA George Lyngdoh had written to the Union Ministry of Education regarding the delay in SSA teacher salaries. SSA teachers have been protesting the non-payment of five months’ of salaries.
Union Minister of State for Education, Annpurna Devi replied that, with regards to the release of funds under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan in 2021-22, Rs 52.78 crore was released as the second installment on March 31, 2022. In the Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting by the Ministry of Education, Rs 33.98 crore was approved as the state’s share.
However, the TMC said that the Meghalaya government’s budget on PFMS (the platform for e-payment of subsidy under direct benefit transfer) only showed Rs 31.97 crore at the time of processing of release of the second installment.
While the state was eligible for Rs 287.76 crore as the central share in 2021-22, the government only provisioned Rs 271.71 crore as the release of funds. “This implies that significantly less amount of money was budgeted and provisioned by the state government,” the TMC said in a press release.
