In the wake of protests by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) teachers demanding benefits of 7th pay commission, the state government is contemplating to constitute a fresh committee to look into their grievances.
A top official in the civil secretariat said the proposed committee will be tasked to find out “one time solution” to the grievances projected by the SSA teachers, the head teachers and the RMSA masters.
Pertinently, the aggrieved teachers/masters are demanding implementation of 7th pay commission recommendations in their favour, besides de-linking their salary from the funds received by the state from the ministry of human resource development (MHRD).
The official, meanwhile, said the government was working out to release the salary of the SSA teachers before Eid. “The officials concerned in the state administration and the school education department are regularly holding meetings to find a viable solution to the problem faced by SSA teachers,” he said.
The official said the state government was facing difficulty to meet out the salary requirement of SSA teachers “as the MHRD has curtailed the salary component by 50 percent under newly integrated flagship program-Samrga Shiksha Abhiyan.”
The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan has subsumed three other schemes: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). “So the state government will have a liability of Rs 900 crore per year on account of salary for the teachers engaged under these schemes. The stage government has to look for sources to meet out this demand,” he said.
The official said: “If the 7th pay commission recommendations are be implemented for the SSA teachers, then the state will face shortfall of over Rs 1300 core per annum.”
Commissioner secretary, school education department, Rigzin Sampheal said the department is looking “for possibilities to release the salary of the SSA teachers.”
He however didn’t confirm whether the salary will be released as per 7th pay commission panel report.