SHILLONG, July 2: The agitating ad hoc school teachers on Saturday decided to continue with their indefinite sit-in-protest till the State Cabinet approved to enhance their salaries.
“We have decided sit and wait until the cabinet approved our demand to enhance the salaries of the teachers by Rs 18,000 and 5 per cent yearly increment for all ad-hoc categories and upgradation of ad-hoc schools to deficit-grant schools,” Federation of School Teachers of Meghalaya (FASTOM) said.
“We will not go back from here (protesting site adjacent to the additional secretariat building). The government must stop playing games with the teachers and we want the government to fulfils our demand,” the teachers’ body said.
The teachers have been camping overnight outside the secretariat since Tuesday.
Interestingly, the teachers were supposed to call off their protest on Saturday after FASTOM members held a “fruitful meeting” with Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Friday.
However, majority of the agitating teachers wanted to continue with the sit-in-protest to mount pressure on the State Cabinet to give its seal of approval to their demand. In fact, Deputy Chief Minister Tynsong on Friday had told reporters that the government will take a final decision on the demand of the ad-hoc teachers to enhance a lump sum grant to all the government-aided schools in the State.
He said the Planning department and Finance department have completed their paper works to enhance the lump sum grant. (UNI)
