SHILLONG, Nov 9: The SSA teachers on Tuesday hit the streets here demanding the immediate release of their pending salaries.
The Meghalaya Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Schools Association, which represents SSA teachers from all 11 districts of the state, took out a peaceful march to air grievances.
Over a thousand teachers took part in the march taken out from Lum Jingthangbriew Jaiaw to Student’s Field, Jaiaw. Pressure groups, such as HITO, HYC and others, lent their support to the teachers.
Director of School Education and Literacy, Ambrose Ch Marak said the government has submitted all necessary documents to the Central government and the latter is in the process of releasing the funds to the government.
Stating that no state has received any sanction till now, Marak said Meghalaya is expected to receive substantial funds for the disbursement of the salaries pending for five to six months.
Meghalaya has over 12,500 SSA teachers and the government needs Rs 34 crore every month to pay their salaries.
“We are hoping to get the funds anytime soon,” Marak said, adding the corpus fund has been already utilized.
The SSA teachers are also demanding the regularization of their services but Marak said it is a policy decision of the state government. He pointed out that the other states have not yet regularized their services as majority of them were appointed by School Managing Committees.