By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Education, Prof RC Laloo, on Tuesday informed the House that the delay in the release of salaries of the deficit school teachers is due to the non-receipt of Utilization Certificates (UCs) from the concerned school authorities.
“We had relaxed the procedure for release of grants for payment of salaries to the deficit school teachers. In the past, we would not release the grants if the UCs were not submitted after every quarter,” Prof Laloo said while replying to a query raised by NPP legislator Nihim D Shira during Question Hour on Tuesday.
“We have stressed that the UCs should be submitted in the last quarter of the year. We are not releasing the grants to the schools unless they submit all the UCs in the last quarter,” the Education Minister said.
“We will immediately release the grants once the school authorities submit the UCs,” he asserted.
The Minister also informed that there are a 121 deficit secondary schools and 16 deficit higher secondary schools in the State.
Replying to a supplementary question by HSPDP legislator Ardent Basaiawmoit on whether the Government intended to bring more schools under the deficit pattern, Prof Laloo said that it would depend on the availability of funds.
Reacting to the reply, Basaiawmoit said fund constraints should not be a problem since Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma ‘knows how to get the funds’.
While pointing out that the bulk of expenditure in the Education department is incurred on salaries, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said that funds for development of infrastructure should not be difficult to access since it is a one-time investment.
“To bring any school under the deficit pattern, we need to have the requisite funds to pay the salaries of the school teachers which involves recurring expenditure,” Dr Sangma said.