DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 12 (MExN): The Nagaland RMSA Teachers’ Association 2016 (NRMSATA-2016) has issued a clarification of certain points “in the interest of truth and justice.”
On the issue of salary reductions, the association said that by 2018, the Government of India had merged SSA and RMSA into the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and that salary structures were “unilaterally reduced by the Centre—15,000 INR for primary teachers, 20,000 INR for graduate teachers, and 25,000 INR for secondary teachers.”
It added that “the Centre also directed states to bear the additional financial burden over and above these amounts” and that “the framework for Samagra Shiksha mentions that the Government of India will provide financial support for salary and it should not be construed as actual salary.” According to the association, “the reduction of salary support was built into the scheme and was bound to eventually cease. On that day, the State Government is expected to take full responsibility for salary payment.”
“The fact remains that RMSA-2016 teachers were never supposed to be on a fixed salary of Rs 31,315 in the first place. Like our counterparts—SSA 2010 and 2013, and RMSA 2013 teachers, who are rightly being paid on pay scale under the 7th ROP—we too should have been regularised on pay scale from the very beginning. By keeping us on fixed pay, the Government has in effect been underpaying us since 2016, despite the same qualifications, recruitment process, and responsibilities. Instead of addressing the anomaly and bringing RMSA-2016 teachers on par with SSA 2010 and RMSA 2013, the Government kept us on fixed pay. This is not merely a financial issue but a matter of equity and fairness,” it added.
It further stated: “The Government must stop hiding behind technicalities and immediately bring RMSA-2016 teachers on pay scale with 7th ROP benefits, as was rightfully due to us from the start. Anything less is nothing short of continued Exploitation.” The association said that Nagaland had “duly complied for earlier batches (SSA 2010 and 2013, and RMSA 2013) by absorbing their salaries under non-plan heads and extending 7th ROP benefits” but “the RMSA 2016 batch was denied this right of equality and dignity.”
It also recalled that “as early as 2013, the Project Approval Board (PAB) had objected to Nagaland’s advertisements that linked teacher appointments to central funding” and “the PAB clearly stated that paying teachers is the State Government’s permanent responsibility, irrespective of central allocations.” The rejoinder described the situation as “ongoing step-motherly treatment of one batch of teachers” with “no moral or legal justification.”
Addressing the role of the Nagaland Education Mission Society (NEMS), the association said “RMSA 2016 appointments were made through Cabinet approval and clearance from P&AR and Finance. These posts were never ‘temporary.’ The excuse that NEMS cannot act without the State is baseless.”
It further stated that “the Government of India itself had insisted that RMSA teachers be appointed on a regular basis, at par with State cadre teachers—not on fixed pay or contractual terms tied to scheme funding. While Nagaland honoured this directive for earlier batches, the 2016 batch was singled out and denied equal treatment violating both GoI’s framework and the PAB’s instructions, condemning one entire batch of teachers to insecurity in contradiction to national policy and the State’s own precedents.”
On dialogue, NRMSATA-2016 said, “We respect calls for dialogue, but nine years of waiting, countless representations, and even court verdicts have been ignored. Dialogue without action only extends injustice. Our protest is not against students—it is against the State’s refusal to honour its obligations.”
The association said that the courts have spoken and that RMSA 2016 teachers are entitled to scale pay at par with counterparts under 7th ROP. It urged the government to implement the order without delay.
