SHILLONG, Jan 18: The Federation of All School Teachers of Meghalaya (FASTOM) has called off its agitation after the state government had assured it of fulfilling its demands.
A FASTOM delegation, led by its president Kenneth Shadap, had held a meeting with the Secretary of Education department, Ambrose Ch Marak on Tuesday.
Later, Shadap told reporters Marak had assured that the government will look into the federation’s demands. The meeting with the Secretary of Education department revolved around the points which contained in its memorandum submitted to the government.
“We have made it very clear that we are ready to accept the last option of enhancement of our salary annually if the state government cannot include us under the deficit pattern at the moment. We will be happy if the salaries are increased without the need for the teachers to come out to the street to remind the government,” the FASTOM president said.
He said the government agreed to provide the federation with a copy of the minutes of Tuesday’s meeting. “We had impressed that there should be an official recording of the meeting,” he added.
He said the Secretary of Education department had mentioned it will be difficult for him to give any time frame but the government will try to complete the process at the earliest.
“We are happy to see the government’s seriousness in fulfilling our demands. We had gone ahead with the agitation as the government did not respond to our request to invite us for talks,” Shadap said.
He also said that whenever in the past the government had made a commitment, it ensured that it is fulfilled.
“I don’t think it is right to have any kind of doubt on the seriousness of the government. I am confident that our demands will be fulfilled since only a year is left for the state to go to elections,” Shadap said.
The FASTOM president, meanwhile, insisted that the enhancement of salaries should be uniform, whether it is for Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Secondary or Higher Secondary teachers.
“We don’t want enhancement in terms of percentage. This would mean that the teachers, who are getting higher salaries, will benefit more compared to others drawing lower salaries,” Shadap said. He urged the government to examine the demand to include the ad-hoc teachers in the deficit pattern in the future.