SHILLONG, Nov 10: The Centre has released Rs 59 crore to the state government for disbursing salary to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan teachers.
Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, who returned from New Delhi on Wednesday, said the state government had sought Rs 140 crore to pay the salaries of the SSA teachers. But the Centre released less than half the amount and the Rs 59 crore would be cleared by next week.
“We have been following up the matter with the Centre continuously,” he said.
Rymbui felt the Centre should take concrete steps to resolve the matter once and for all as every now and then the salary of the teachers gets accumulated for 5-6 months.
The state spends about Rs 26 crore for the salaries of the SSA teachers every month.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma also expressed concern over the pending salaries of the SSA teachers.
“The SSA teachers have not been paid throughout the country for the last five months. All the CMs and education ministers of all the states in the country have been continuously following up with the Centre,” he said.
He pointed out that the non-payment of salaries to the SSA teachers is not a Meghalaya-specific problem.
“Roughly about Rs 150 crore is due to them. It is not possible for the state government to shell out that much money in advance,” Sangma said, appealing to the Centre to release the funds as soon as possible.
