GUWAHATI: The All Assam Primary TET-Qualified Teachers' Association has threatened that it would resort to a SSA (Samagra Shiksha, Assam) gherao agitation in the first half of March 2024 if the government failed to meet their demands by February.
In a statement issued to the media today, the association's president, Trailokya Deka, said, "The government appointed us as contractual teachers under the SSA in 2012, but started to pay our salary as per ROP (Rules of Pay) from April 2013. The sad part of the fact is that the government started the payment with an anomalous pay package under the ROP. Every contractual teacher wrote to the SSA, and the association raised the demand for rectification of the anomalies in the pay package, but to no avail."
He said, "The government's standing rule is paying teachers according to time after the completion of ten years of service. However, in the case of the contractual teachers under SSA, the government has not followed this rule."
On teachers' transfers, Deka said, "The government has not met our demand for inter-district transfers of individual teachers between Dhubri and South Salmara-Mankachar districts. The government also has not disposed of the applications for intra-district transfer of teachers."
Working president of the association, Sandip Deba Choudhury, raised demands for paying gratuity, benefits of the Mukya Mantrir Lok Sewak Arogya Yojana, simplification of leave approval for teachers, and permission of leave at the district level through the devices in the service book for the contractual teachers working under the SSA. He said, "We submitted a memorandum to the Mission Director, SSA, for all these demands on February 21. If the government doesn't fulfil these demands by February, we will resort to an SSA gherao programme in the first of March."
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