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Around12,000 lower and upper primary school teachers from Assam, under the banner of All Assam Salary Deprived Assistant Teachers Association (AASDATA), sent as many letters to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, seeking his intervention for the payment of their pending salaries.
Salaries of these teachers have reportedly not been paid even after being given appointment by the state government between 1991 and 2001. However, the teachers have been regularly taking classes in the schools without salary till now, and have also acquired necessary qualification in the meantime, they said in the letter to the prime minister.
Ramen Saikia, general secretary, AASDATA, said, “Teachers in service, retired ones and the families of those who died have sent the letters individually to the prime minister seeking his immediate intervention. The lower and upper primary school teachers were given the appointment letters by the state government with a proper financial sanction. However, in 2006, they were declared to have been appointed illegally.”
He further added that till 1996, the teachers were receiving their salaries regularly, but it stopped and again resumed between 2001 and 2006, only to be stalled again following the illegal appointment declaration by the Assam government.
"Out of the 12,000 teachers, 3,000 of them had retired without receiving salary, 1,100 were dead, and another 91 had allegedly committed suicide between 1991 and now," Saikia claimed.
(With inputs from PTI)