SHILLONG: The Meghalaya SSA School Association (MSSASA) central body on Monday threatened to launch a mass movement if the state government fails to release their pending arrears and salary by December 8.
In a press statement issued here, the association’s president Aristotle C. Rymbai said it had through a representation to state project director Ambrose Marak requested the state government again to release all the pending dues of 12481 trained and untrained SSA teachers
The pending dues include eight months arrear salary of t financial year 2016-17 for the period, July 1, 2016 to February 28, 2017, and four months’ salary of current academic year from August to November.
Rymbai also said that currently SSA teachers have no money to pay their children’s school fees, electricity bills, house rent, buy medicine apart from fulfilling their daily needs.
The association had submitted representations to the state government multiple times in this regard but there was no response.
“This reflects that the fact that the state government is irresponsible and not serious on the issue and the problems faced by the SSA teachers,” he said.
Though the Union HRD ministry had directed the state government to manage funds from the state budget for implementation of SSA activities, the state government was yet to respond.
Further, the officers of the education department had sent multiple letters to the state government requesting release of adequate funds to the state implementing society, SEMAM-SSA, from the state budget so that it would be in a position to release the pending dues of the SSA teachers.
“If in each and every quarter we have to come out on the street to protest for our salary then we may say that teachers or the teaching profession has no value,” Rymbai said.
Earlier, the association had also submitted a representation to chief minister Mukul Sangma and requested him to release funds from the state budget for payment of the SSA teachers’ pending dues.
