Meghalaya: SSA 4th teachers reaffirm stand on 'equal pay for equal work'

TURA:

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) 4th teachers on Monday, reaffirmed their stand on ‘equal pay for equal work’.

“The work we do as teachers is the same as the others, so why are we being paid less than that of our colleagues? It would have been understandable if we had lesser work, but we don’t. Even our qualifications are the same,” said the president of the 4th SSA teachers’ association of Meghalaya, Tengsrang Sangma.

As per an RTI filed by lawyer PT Sangma, there are 1513 SSA 4th teachers in the state with each getting a salary of Rs 12,000 per month.

The teachers’ association has, since 2017, been demanding for salary increment.

Tengsrang Sangma pointed to various memorandums submitted to the state government, seeking enhancement of their salaries and regularisation of their jobs.

However, we have received nothing positive from the state government, from whose pockets the 4th teachers are paid, added the aggrieved teacher.

In 2017, a proposal had been submitted by the Directorate of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) for enhancement of the salaries of the SSA 4th teachers but was returned by the Planning Department in the same year.

“The Director of Education has submitted several such proposals, but nothing has moved beyond that. We have been serving the state as teachers for many years and we deserve to (be) paid equally,” added secretary, Jeckuish T Sangma.

“The law is very clear that there should be equal pay for equal work and we are being discriminated. There had even been a proposal to enhance our salary to Rs 16,000, but that too is not adequate. How are we to live in such times with only Rs 12,000 a month? We have our families to care for and children to feed and school. Try doing that in a salary of Rs 12,000,” Sangma added.

While the teachers have insisted that they want the issue to be resolved by the state government, they added that if nothing worked out, they would move the Court to seek justice.