Assam: Teachers call off pen down strike in Karbi Anglong

Diphu: Lower primary school teachers working in Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts of Assam on Thursday decided to call off their pen down strike from September 1 to 5 after they got the assurance from the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) that all pending salaries will be cleared by next month.

Addressing the media at the Karbi Anglong Primary Teachers’ Association (KAPTA) office in Diphu, general secretary Probin Hanse said that holding a meeting to discuss on the issue with teachers of the districts, KAAC chief executive member (CEM) Tuliram Ronghang said that the online salary payment system is under process and would be credited to the teachers’ accounts soon.

“Information of each primary school teacher for the online system has been received by the authorities concerned and the CEM has assured us that all pending salaries will be delivered by September,” the KAPTA general secretary added.

Expressing relief over the assurance provided by the CEM, Hanse further said that they don’t have to worry now as the online payment process will take another two to three days’ time for completion and the pending salaries of the teachers from the month of May to August will be cleared by next month.

“If all our school teachers become aware and update their respective GPS, NPS and correct mobile numbers, the process would happen faster and in a smoother manner,” Hanse added.

Also Read: Police all set to tackle any situation in post-NRC Assam: DGP

Meanwhile, the finance department of the Assam government in a fresh order has directed the administrative bodies of all departments functioning under the autonomous councils of Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao and BTAD districts to follow the online payment system to give salaries to their employees.

Around 3,000 primary teachers of Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts were affected from the circular as they could no fill up their data in the online system due to absence of a drawing and disbursal officer (DDO). As a result, salaries of all primary teachers working in the districts remained pending for almost three months starting from May. Following this, the school teachers under the banner of KAPTA declared to boycott classes from September 1 to 5 if their pending salaries for the month of May, June and July were not cleared by August.

District Education Officer (DEO) ArunTeron himself is the DDO for the primary teachers.