The Meghalaya SSA Schools Association (MSSASA) Central Body has hit back at the Voice of the People Party (VPP) over its demand for the removal of Education Commissioner and Secretary Vijay Kumar Mantri, calling the demand “unfair” and questioning the basis for singling out the senior bureaucrat.
MSSASA president Aristotle C. Rymbai said the association was taken aback by the demand from VPP leader Arden Miller Basaiawmoit, arguing that Mantri was implementing government decisions after due process and should not be held personally responsible for policies approved by the government.
Rymbai said the association considers Mantri a hardworking and committed officer who has been responsive to the concerns of the teaching community.
He said the structured pay framework was a government policy formulated in consultation with stakeholders and was not an initiative of the Education Commissioner alone.
For decades, Rymbai said, SSA, ad hoc and other categories of teachers had worked on fixed pay without job security. The present government, he said, introduced the structured pay framework to link salaries to length of service and provide greater service protection. The government has also extended the Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) to these teachers.
Rymbai acknowledged that the framework requires further improvement but said this should be addressed through dialogue between the government and all stakeholders rather than through demands targeting individual officials.
He also called for a uniform policy for the teaching profession, arguing that teachers performing the same duties and working the same hours should receive equal salary benefits and service conditions.
