Will look into teachers’ demand for salary hike: Meghalaya CM Sangma

Shillong: While the Federation of All School Teachers of Meghalaya (FASTOM) continues to demand increment of their salaries, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said that a decision cannot be taken immediately due to its financial implications. 

Sangma said that it is a long-pending issue with huge financial implications running into hundreds of crores.

“It is not a decision that one can take immediately considering the Covid situation and financial challenges that the state is facing. We need to keep all these factors in mind”, the chief minister said.

Sangma said that all aspects have to be looked into and therefore it is not a simple decision.

The chief minister further added that in the past he had met the ad hoc teachers a number of times and had similar discussion. Sangma said: “I have directed the department concerned to look into all the options.”

He, however, assured that the government will soon invite the protesting ad hoc teachers for a discussion, but not before assessing the financial implications of their demand.

“I will be calling them (ad hoc teachers) for discussion to figure out how to move forward on this,” said Sangma.

“Once I have a meeting with the State Finance Department and other concerned officials to see what the options are, I will hold a meeting with the ad hoc teachers and figure out how to move forward,” informed the chief minister.

Recently FASTOM has been staging a protest in front of Secretariat, Shillong to seek an appointment with Chief Minister to find out the status of their demands.

The association has also threatened to hold rallies in Shillong and Tura on May 12 if the chief minister fails to meet them. It may be mentioned that FASTOM has been demanding for enhancement of salaries and upgrade of ad hoc teachers to deficit pattern.

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