Meghalaya deficit teachers to intensify stir over DA, CPF dues

Teachers in Meghalaya's deficit schools in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills say they will step up their agitation, accusing the state government of ignoring demands that have been pending for nearly two years.

The Khasi Jaintia Deficit School Teachers' Association (KJDSTA) announced the decision in Shillong on Saturday after its executive committee met the managing committees of several deficit schools, Hub News reported. Deficit schools are privately managed schools whose teachers' salaries are largely paid by the state government.

The demands

KJDSTA president Boswell Pala listed the association's main grievances:

• the Centralised Provident Fund (CPF) contribution has not been raised to 10 per cent and remains at 8 per cent;
• the enhanced dearness allowance (DA) and its arrears have not been paid;
• the association rejects the National Pension System and the pension schemes of 2023 and 2026;
• it alleges manipulation in the reconstitution of the Board of Trustees; and
• it wants action on recruitment to vacant deficit posts.

On DA, Pala said the government had gone back on its word. Teachers had been told they would receive the enhanced DA and arrears before the Puja holidays, he said, but with another holiday season approaching, the money had still not come.

Earlier protests

The association said it had submitted a charter of demands to the Chief Minister and had also gone on mass casual leave earlier. A government reply received on 8 October was "not satisfactory", Pala said.

He said the meeting with school managing committees drew an overwhelming response and that the committees backed the teachers' fight. "We will not relent, we will only intensify from now on," he said. The exact form of the next phase of protest will be decided by the association's executive committee.

What comes next

The association has not yet said whether the next phase will involve another round of mass leave or other forms of protest. The education department has not yet publicly responded to the association's latest statement.

NEInsider will report the association's programme once it is announced.