SHILLONG, Dec 15: Thousands of school teachers from Meghalaya on Tuesday sent postcards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention into the delay of their salaries under Centre’s Samagra Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) Mission, which have been pending for five months so far.
The postcard campaign was launched in protest against the alleged delay by the central government in releasing their salaries.
The Meghalaya SSA Schools Association (MSSASA) Central Body president, Aristotle Rymbai, said, “We are sending a clear message to the Union Education Ministry that it should release the first instalment so that the state government can release the pending salary”.
A total of 12,541 elementary teachers were recruited under the SSA in 2,907 lower primary and 2,232 upper primary schools across the state, Rymbai said.
Meanwhile, Education Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui, has expressed hope that the Centre would release funds for clearing the pending salaries of SSA teachers before Christmas.
The state government has contacted the central government in this regard, he told reporters.
The education minister said that the central government’s delay in releasing funds has also affected other activities of the SSA programme in Meghalaya.
In 2018, the central government launched the SSA programme which incorporated three schemes, viz. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Teacher Education. (With PTI inputs)