Meghalaya: The association has set a January 15, 2026 deadline for the government to respond
Highlighting their demand to enhance Dearness Allowance to 51 per cent, the Khasi Jaintia Deficit School Teachers’ Association (KJDSTA) held a meeting at Malki Ground, expressing frustration that the Meghalaya government has not acted on repeated requests to raise the DA from 43 per cent.
The association has set a January 15, 2026 deadline for the Meghalaya government to respond, warning that failure to do so would force teachers to launch protests and democratic agitations across the state.
During the meeting, KJDSTA leaders said the prolonged stagnation of DA has caused severe financial hardship and mental distress for thousands of deficit teachers.
Calling for unity among educators, one protesting teacher said, “Stand with us, support us, raise your voices, because when teachers fight, they fight for the future. Our unity is our greatest weapon. Our strength is not just in numbers, but in unity. Where teachers stand together, no authority can silence us, no policy can crush us, no system can break us. Let every zone, every unit, every school stand as one because when teachers march in unity, the whole state listens.”
Another teacher sharply criticised the Meghalaya government’s education policies, questioning its push for so-called standardisation.
“The government uses attractive words like ‘standardisation’, but I do not trust the way it runs schools. Even in the past, the government acknowledged its own defects, which is why earlier governments supported deficit teachers and the deficit system. Only in the last year or two have we seen this blatant harassment of deficit teachers and the snatching away of our rights,” the teacher said.
The teacher also took aim at the controversial Meghalaya CM guidebook, calling it detrimental to quality education.
“The so-called CM guidebook looks like a cheap marks guidebook. It claims students can score 60 or 70 per cent just by reading it. Who writes something like that in a guidebook? It is shameful. Such practices deprive good students and discourage genuine learning. That is shameful and deprives good students while discouraging genuine learning,” the teacher added.
Alleging a deeper nexus behind the delay in DA enhancement, the teacher further said, “There exists an evil symbiosis between the government, the Chief Minister, Ministers and officials. The non-enhancement of DA is the result of this nexus, where elected representatives and certain officials seek to undermine deficit teachers.”
Also Read : Arunachal to Vote on Dec 15; Campaigning Ends for Panchayat And Municipal Elections
