
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: In two separate letters, the Assam State Primary Teachers’ Association (ASPTA) has appealed to Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma to restore the grade pay of graduate teachers working in lower primary schools as fixed by the Seventh Pay Commission and to reduce the time limit of the annual increment of teachers recruited under the special recruitment drive (SRD).
Even as the Seventh Pay Commission had fixed the grade pay of graduate primary teachers, including those of lower primary schools, as Rs 8,700, the government reduced the grade of graduate teachers of lower primary schools to Rs 7,400 after 17 months of implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission’s scales.
Now the ASPTA requested the Chief Minister to restore the grade pay of graduate teachers of lower primaryls to be the same as the graduate teachers of upper primary schools as fixed by the pay commission.
The ASPTA also requested the Chief Minister to implement the annual increment of the SRD teachers after a year and not after 22 months. It so happened that this batch of teachers was recruited in a special drive in September 2024. It was mentioned in their appointment letters that their annual increment would be effective after one year of their date of appointment. Going by that, this batch of employees are to get their increment in September 2025. However, authorities concerned are of the view that since all employees get their annual increments in July every year, this batch of teachers will have to wait for their annual increments in July 2026. The ASPTA is of the view that getting an increment after 22 months is injustice being meted out to the graduate teachers of lower primary schools. To avoid such an injustice, the authorities concerned should pay annual increments to these teachers in July 2025, i.e., after ten months.
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