Teachers threaten stir over salary woes

TURA: The All Garo Hills SSA LP and UP School Teachers’ Association has once again raised the demand for salary hike as per the amount approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) on April 22 last year.
The teachers have served a deadline until January 20 for the State Government to act. “If the State Government fails to fulfil our demands by January 20, we will have no option but to launch a democratic agitation,” they warned.
It may be mentioned that the PAB meeting in New Delhi last year had approved Rs 19,044 salary for lower primary school teachers and Rs 20,493 for upper primary school teachers.
However, in another notification issued some time later, the State Government reduced the salary amount from Rs 20,493 to Rs 14,492 for UP teachers and from Rs 19,044 to Rs 13,335 for LP teachers.
On December 15 last year, teachers from all corners of Garo Hills participated in a silent peace rally in Tura as a mark of protest against the fresh notification reducing the salary amount. A dharna was also staged in Shillong in front of the Secretariat building on December 20 by teachers from the State.