By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 16: Over 300 members of the Meghalaya Retired Deficit School Teachers Association on Saturday decried the delay by the state government to grant them their long demand for pension and also requested the government to enhance the ceiling of death-cum-retirement gratuity (DCRG) to teachers who retired before 2017 and after 2022.
Speaking to reporters after their meeting, the president of the association, E D Nongsiang, said, “We have taken up two agenda for our association that is DCRG and pension”.
He explained, “What happened is that the government has enhanced the DCRG for the teachers only up to 2017 and March 2022 and so we have written to the director that he should also consider those teachers who retired in and before 2017”.
“This DCRG is a gratuity given to retired teachers. It was only Rs 3.5 lakhs and until this year they have enhanced it to Rs 10 lakhs,” he added.
According to him, this was due since the 4th pay commission and the government now is going to enhance the ceiling for the DCRG up to 10 lakhs but only for the teachers who retired from 2017 to 2022.
“The government should enhance the ceiling DCRG right from before 2017 and also after 2022 so that all the teachers who retired before 2017 and after 2022 will also be eligible,” he added.
Stating that their main agenda is a pension, he said, “We have made so many representations and memorandums submitted to many education ministers and chief ministers but it seems the government is delaying it”.
Informing that there is a draft scheme of pension for Meghalaya nongovernment school teacher’s employees’ rules 2023, he however said it has not been approved and is still in the draft stage.
“We would like the government to take up our issue so that we can live a decent life with our pension,” he added.