Guwahati, Aug 11: The Assam government on Tuesday said the salary-related problems faced by teachers regularised under the Special Recruitment Drive (SRD) had been largely resolved, with around 200-250 teachers still awaiting payment because of errors in their bank-account details.Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said most of the 15,029 teachers covered under the regularisation exercise had received their salaries.
The remaining cases would be addressed after correcting discrepancies in the teachers’ banking information, he said.Pegu explained that some administrative changes had also contributed to delays. Several teachers were initially appointed as elementary teachers under Samagra Shiksha but were later shifted to secondary schools following the amalgamation of institutions.As a result, their salary bills came under the Drawing and Disbursing Officer system of the Inspector of Schools.
The minister said salary bills for around 400 teachers had been prepared by the concerned authorities.The Education Department has also decided to discontinue salary payments for SRD teachers through the SNA-SPARSH mechanism.
Their salaries will instead be processed through the regular system applicable to government teachers.Pegu said the transition could take a few days but assured that the pending issues would be resolved. He also said the department would make efforts to ensure that teachers receive their salaries on the first day of every month in the future.
The government’s clarification came after around 250 SRD teachers gathered at Jorhat Sadar Police Station and submitted a complaint seeking an inquiry into the proposed changes in salary disbursement.The teachers raised concerns over a possible shift of salary payments from district treasuries to the Dispur Treasury under a budget head generally associated with government schemes. They questioned the need for the proposed change after being regularised in 2024 and receiving salaries through district treasuries.
The teachers also sought greater transparency in the salary-processing system and demanded a high-level investigation into the matter.The minister separately assured contractual teachers working under Samagra Shiksha that their pending salaries would be cleared, saying there was no major issue concerning their payments.
Meanwhile, the Education Department announced that the long-awaited teacher transfer process would begin in phases from Tuesday.Pegu said transfer orders for elementary and secondary teachers would be issued while strictly maintaining the prescribed Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR).The first phase will focus on mutual transfers, followed by other eligible transfers where staffing levels permit. The government will make arrangements for replacement teachers wherever necessary before approving transfers.
The minister stressed that transfers would not be allowed if they left a school without adequate teaching staff.The government said the twin measures on salary processing and teacher transfers are aimed at improving administrative efficiency and ensuring that regularised teachers receive timely payments while schools maintain adequate staffing levels.
