Supreme Court of India upholds high court ruling granting equal pay to RMSA teachers in Nagaland

• DIMAPUR — The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday dismissed a special leave petition filed by the State of Nagaland, effectively upholding the Gauhati High Court’s 2022 judgment that granted equal pay to teachers appointed under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).
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• A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice K Vinod Chandran declined to interfere with the earlier ruling of the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench, delivered on March 16, 2022, which had directed the Nagaland Government to extend regular pay scales to RMSA teachers in parity with their counterparts. The interim relief that had paused implementation of the High Court’s order now also stands vacated.

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• Case background
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• The case originated from a long-standing grievance by 435 RMSA teachers who were recruited between 2015 and 2016 on fixed salaries despite the creation of their posts being sanctioned with a regular pay band of INR 9,300–34,800 with a grade pay of INR 4,200 per month.
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• Following a restructuring in 2018 that merged various educational schemes into Samagra Shiksha, the State government had directed these teachers to accept reduced salaries, failing which they faced administrative action. The teachers contested this move and filed a writ petition at the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court.
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• In its 2022 judgment, the High Court observed that the petitioners were performing the same duties as other teachers under SSA and RMSA who were being paid higher wages and had been absorbed into State cadre positions. It ruled that the petitioners were “equally placed in all respects” and hence, entitled to equal pay for equal work, a principle grounded in Articles 14 and 39 of the Indian Constitution.
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• The State of Nagaland subsequently challenged this ruling in the Supreme Court.