Teachers to strike over their salary

SHILLONG, JULY 16: Schoolteachers are all set to stage their first phase of agitation by holding dharnas from July 27 to 29 to protest against the state government’s failure to provincialize their services.

The decision was taken at a meeting convened by the Joint Action Committee of All Teachers’ Association in Meghalaya (JACATAM) held in the city on Saturday.

For the past three years JACATAM has been demanding provicialisation of the services of over 14, 000 teachers working at 4500 government aided schools under ad hoc, deficit system and deficit pattern.

According to them, provincialization will ensure ‘equal pay for equal work’.

The demand also assumed significance after the Directorate of Schools Education & Literacy (DSEL) submitted the proposal for provincialisation of teachers’ services to the state government on February 29 this year.

Addressing newsmen after the meeting, JACATAM chairman ED Nongsiang said, “Based on the report of two Action Committees constituted by JACATAM, we have decided to stage the first phase of agitation against the government’s adamant attitude to provincialize the services of the teachers.”

He informed that the teachers from lower primary to higher secondary level will be staging dharnas near their schools from July 27 to July 28.

This will be followed by one-day dharnas in the headquarters of all 11 districts on July 29, Nongsiang said while maintaining that the schools will remain open during the days of agitations by the teachers.

When asked, the committee chairman said, “If the state government fails to invite the teachers for talks, we will be compelled to launch our second phase of agitation.”

According to him, the teachers were made to wait for months without any response despite several letters submitted requesting for appointment with the chief minister Mukul Sangma.

Referring to the DSEL’s proposal, Nongsiang said, “The proposal was based on the Tamil Nadu model of service provincialisation, which is in accordance with our expectation and demand. Now it depends on the government to consider this.”

Meanwhile, the DSEL in its proposal for provincialisation of teachers’ services had recommended framing separate of service rules for teachers in government aided schools.

It has also estimated that the projected expenditure cost for salary of the teachers will be to the tune of Rs 900 crore if the government approved the proposal.

It is learnt that the state government at present is spending Rs 500 crores on teachers’ salary. With implementation of provincialisation of services, it will have to shell out an additional amount of Rs 300 crores.-By Our Reporter