SHILLONG:
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, on May 12, said that a file related to the proposed enhancement of the salaries of agitating ad hoc teachers is being processed and it will be up for discussions in the next cabinet meeting.
“I yet to receive the file. It should be coming to me soon. And once it comes, we will discuss it in the next cabinet meeting and on the way forward,” Sangma said, after meeting with the delegation of the Federation of All School Teachers of Meghalaya (FASTOM) on Thursday.
He, however, reiterated that the financial implication of agreeing to enhance the ad hoc teachers’ salaries will run into hundreds of crores and hence, a decision on the matter will not going to be a simple one.
“Once the government gives a nod to the demand, it will be an annual affair and in such a situation, there will only be two options left in front of us – one is to cut the budget from the other departments and put into this or raise more revenue. Therefore, all these things have to be discussed in detail in the cabinet before it takes a final call on this,” said Sangma.
The delegation of ad hoc teachers, on the other hand, expressed satisfaction that Sangma assured them of a final decision on the matter within a month.
“We are quite happy with the (outcome of the) meeting. The chief minister has assured that the government will need to convene three cabinet meetings to take a final call on the issue. We took his (CM) word and we will wait the government’s decision on the matter,” said FASTOM spokesperson Mayborn Lyngdoh.
Earlier, as decided by the federation on May 11, hundreds of ad hoc teachers, armed with placards, gathered near the secretariat amid tight security on Thursday.
Lyngdoh, however, admitted that he is not in the know of the financial implication of agreeing to their demand and that they have decided to scale down their demand after understanding where the government stands “financially”.
