Assam SRD teachers, government to meet again on August 24 over salary dispute

The Assam government and primary teachers' body ASPTA will hold another round of talks on August 24 over the salary payment mechanism for teachers regularised through the Special Recruitment Drive (SRD). The decision came after ASPTA met Director of Elementary Education Suranjana Senapati on Friday and pressed for restoring the earlier payment system. Teachers want their salaries processed through the previous method instead of the SNA-SPARSH module, under Samagra Shiksha Assam. ASPTA president Ratul Chandra Goswami and general secretary Shailendra Kalita said no changes were made in FinAssam between August 11 and 19 despite an assurance from Education Minister Dr Ranoj Pegu.

The Association said the DDO code remained DIS/ASM/146, with Samagra Shiksha Axom still listed as directorate and Dispur as treasury. Senapati told the delegation that discussions were underway to facilitate payments through the earlier mechanism. ASPTA reiterated its demand that teachers be paid in the same manner as they received their June 2026 salaries. The issue has been contentious since the government moved SRD teachers to the SNA-SPARSH system. ASPTA staged a statewide one-hour dharna on August 7 after an August 6 meeting with the minister failed. It announced an indefinite sit-in from August 12 but suspended it till August 25 after Pegu's August 11 assurance. Friday's meeting ended with Senapati agreeing to the August 24 talks.