Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) teachers Thursday staged a protest against the government for ‘failing to releases their salaries from past five months’.The SSA teachers under the banner of Rehber-e-Taleem Teachers Forum (ReTTF) assembled at Srinagar’s Press Enclave and chanted slogans like ‘we want justice’. They were demanding immediate release of their pending salaries.The protesting SSA teachers said that the government has failed to release their salaries from past five months thereby resulted in the immense hardships to the community. “The Finance Minister, Dr Haseeb A Drabu in the last budget session assured us that the salaries of SSA teachers will be delinked and would be released on monthly basis from April. However, all the promises and assurances fall ill on the ground as we continue to remain without ssalris from past five months,” the SSA teachers said.
They SSA teachers have decided to continue the lock down of all schools till Monday to mark a protest against the government’s failure to release their salaries.“If the government is not in position to streamline the SSA salary issue, it should convert all SSA posts into state non plan posts so that the salaries will be released on time,” the teachers said.The ReTTF threatened to stage state wide protest if the release of SSA salary is not streamlined till Eid-ul-fitr.“We will go for state wide lock down of schools and government will be responsible for the consequences. Around 70 percent schools in rural areas are dependent on ReT teachers,” the teachers said.However, the protesters later dispersed peacefully. (KNS)