Meghalaya KGBV staff unpaid since August, Tura MDC flags crisis

Staff at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) in Meghalaya have not been paid for three months, according to BJP district council member Bernard N Marak, who has warned that the delay has reached a critical point.

Marak, the MDC from Tura, said teaching and non-teaching staff at the residential girls' schools have received no salary since August, Meghalaya Monitor reported on Tuesday, November 10.

Working without pay

Despite the missed salaries, staff have kept reporting for duty so that classes and hostels continue to run for the girls enrolled, the report said. KGBVs are residential schools for girls from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Class and below-poverty-line families, and they are run under the centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha scheme.

Many of the teachers are the only earning members of their households and are struggling to pay rent, medical bills and their own children's school fees, according to the report. A senior KGBV teacher, speaking on condition of anonymity, said staff had continued to give their best to the classroom but that three months without pay was "pushing us to the brink", adding that some could barely afford the fare to get to work.

Hostels at risk

Because the schools are residential, the funding problem also reaches the students, the report said. Staff fear that delays in grants could hit basic needs such as meals, medical care and campus safety for the girls who live on campus.

What staff are asking for

Staff representatives and welfare committees have written to the State Project Director, seeking:

• release of all three months of pending salary;
• a simpler fund-release process so that salaries are credited on time in future; and
• immediate release of operational grants so that meals, medical care and security are not disrupted.

They have warned that without quick action the situation could lead to staff protests and disrupt the academic calendar for thousands of girls who depend on these schools.

No official response yet

The report did not carry a response from the state Education Department or the Samagra Shiksha office on the reason for the delay or when the arrears will be paid. NEInsider will update this story if the department responds.

The KGBV salary issue comes as Meghalaya's school sector is already under strain, with teachers of deficit schools beginning an indefinite strike over pending demands this week.