Into the fourth day of their strike for better pay, ad hoc teachers under the banner of the Federation of All School Teachers of Meghalaya (FASTOM) received more backing from other groups today, including the main opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Members of the TMC arrived at the protest site at the Secretariat here to show their support.
Today there were nearly 1,000 ad hoc teachers who took part in the protest. Other groups to give their support were the Meghalaya Joint Council of Trade Unions and Associations (MJCTU&A) and Hynñiewtrep Youths Council (HYC). Yesterday, the teachers received support from the hawkers association, minor political parties KHNAM and the Voice of the People Party (VPP) as well the Hynñiewtrep Indigenous Territorial Organisation (HITO).
This is not the first protest held in favour of the pay hike demand but previous ones were invariably called off when the state government made the teachers a new promise. Today, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong gave yet another assurance that there would be greater lump sum grants to aided schools.
