Meghalaya teachers end protest as govt agrees to clear pending salaries

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya government on Thursday announced that it has decided to release Rs 122 crore for the payment of four of five months of pending salaries of Sarva Sikha Abhiyaan (SSA) school teachers who have been agitating.

The teachers would receive their salaries by next week in their bank accounts, deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said at a meeting with their leaders. The remaining one month's salary would be released as and when the Centre provides the grants, he said. The teachers have been on the streets of Shillong since Monday, protesting over the pending dues. Over 12,500 teachers have not received their salaries for the last five months.

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"We have decided to release Rs 122 crore as grants towards payment of four out of five months of pending salaries of the teachers, teaching in Sarva Sikha Abhiyaan schools across the state," Tynsong said. Of this, Rs 78 crore is released from the corpus fund of the state government. This money would be given by the Centre, he said.

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The Centre provides 90 percent of Rs 15,000 for each teacher per month, while the state government gives the rest 10 percent, Education minister Lahkmen Rymbui said. The agitating teachers withdrew their agitation following the announcement.