TURA: SSA School teachers from Garo Hills have expressed unhappiness over the government’s move to release only a month’s salary although their salaries for several months have been pending for some time now.
The salaries of the SSA teachers have been pending for three months- June to August, and the release of only one month’s salary by the government has not gone down well with the teachers.
“We are shocked and astonished that the government has decided to release only one month’s salary. We are faced with a heavy burden as it is to meet our domestic and children’s educational needs, but the decision of the government to release only a month’s salary is a joke,” the teachers said adding those from the Hindu community will be the most affected as their biggest festival- the Durga Puja is just round the corner.
The teachers recalled that earlier, the state government had assured education would be given first priority but the same assurance had now gone up in ‘smoke’.
“Why do we have to always pressure the government to get our salaries? Whenever we meet the concerned authorities, their excuse is that ‘the required amount is not sanctioned by the central government’. If this is true, the central government should also sanction the entire amount in one instalment and not in 2 or 3 installments,” they added.
The teachers while requesting all concerned authorities to take necessary steps to solve their problem have urged that their pending salaries and arrears are cleared by the end of September.“If it fails to fulfil our genuine demands, the situation might force us to launch a civic and democratic agitation all over Garo Hills,” the teachers warned.
