Dimapur, October 4 : Two separate organisations representing teachers from two education programs, the SSA and the RMSA project, have served ultimatums to the education authorities to release their salaries by stipulated timeframes, or face agitations.
Stating to have arrived at a point of starvation and financial liabilities, teachers serving in the Suva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) program have served an ultimatum to the embattled department of School Education to release their long-withheld salaries within a week.
The Nagaland Suva Shiksha Abhiyan Teachers Association (NSSATA) issued on Tuesday a copy of a representation addressed to the commissioner & secretary of the department of School Education.
The NSSATA has given the government seven days with effect from October 5 to fulfil a number of demands. The demands are: payment of pending salaries for five months i.e., May 2016-Sept 2016; the salaries of the SSA Teachers (2010-2013) be made from the non-plan revenue expenditure; the state government adhere to the National Mission (SSA)/MHRD, GOI, rules/guidelines, funding procedure to avoid instalment lapses and delays in the payment of salaries; arrangements to pay the teachers regularly from the state’s fund ‘as has been done by the state at times and hence retrieve the said amount on release of fund by the centre.’
‘The state government upon its negligence and failure in releasing the 10% state matching share and delay in clearing of the file from the Planning department (secretariat), and non-adherence of the funding pattern/guidelines and rules by the state government, the state implementing agency were unable to arrange utilization certificate, audit report and other necessary documents on time to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD),’ the representation stated.
Therefore, they stated, the question of delay in releasing funds from the ministry does not arise.
“We have been repeatedly meeting concerned officials, submitting appeal letters, representations since the inception of our association in 2013 but the same trend has been continuing without any improvement and action,” the organisation stated.
Without salaries for five months, the representation stated, SSA teachers have been undergoing ‘untold miseries to the point of starvation and we are not in a position to attend our duties anymore.’
“Our survival therefore is severely threatened and jeopardized and it has demoralized us in performing our duties sincerely,” the association added.
RMSA teachers of Longleng serve another
Similarly, the Longleng unit of the Nagaland RMSA Teacher's Association (NRMSATA) has served the District Education Office with a 7-day time to release the 3-month salary due to the teachers. The group issued a copy of a letter addressed to the District Education Office of Longleng district.
The teachers have assured indefinite class boycott from October 11 should the authorities fail to redress their grievances.
The organisation stated that salary for three months (April, May and June, 2016), the pending salaries of the RMSA teachers, had ‘been credited to all the DEO's account on the 20th of September 2016.’
However, the representation stated, RMSA teachers for Longleng district were yet to receive their payments.
“We have been waiting for long with great patience but with the march of time arid our patience getting out of control and more dismayed when we learned of our colleagues in other districts receiving their salaries and we are not,’ the organisation stated.
