SHILLONG, May 20: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Friday said the delay in payment of salaries to the SSA teachers was not a new issue even as he sought to put the onus on the Centre to release funds on time to address the problem.
The CM said there are multiple issues that leads to the delay in payment of salaries but the two most important ones are that the central government does not give the amount asked for by the state and there is always a bit of delay in release of funds.
Speaking about the SSA teachers, Sangma said close to 70% of the fund required for payment of salaries comes from the Centre and whenever the Centre delays in releasing the money the state government faces problems.
“These are concerns and issues we have raised with the Centre time and again and will continue to do so. We want that the budget we have asked for should be given to us and that too on time,” he added.
The CM further said that the government LP schools and other government school and college teachers get their salaries on time. He added that salary of teachers under the deficit pattern and all the ad hoc grants that amount to around Rs 1,400 crore a year is also paid on time.
He concluded saying that he would raise the issue of the SSA teachers with Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader, AL Hek met the Union Minister of Education and apprised him of the plight of SSA teachers. He also raised the issue of appointment of the pro vice chancellor of NEHU.
Language recognition
The CM said that the state government was working towards inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and called for greater efforts from the society to promote the languages in the state.
The CMs remarks came after his meeting with members of the Khasi and Garo literature societies.
He said that the focus should be on what the government and the society can do to ensure that the languages maintain their usage and popularity. Research on languages, making movies in Khasi and Garo, making songs and much more can be done to promote the state’s own languages, he said.
Asked when is the demand for inclusion of the languages likely to be fulfilled, Sangma said, “It is difficult to say. There is a process. We had passed the resolution in 2018 as the first concrete step to show the government’s intent that we want this to be done.”
“It is in the Centre’s court and we have to continue to press for it. If they have concerns we need to address them and keep engaging with them,” he added.
