The Arunachal Pradesh Teacher Educators’ Association (APTEA) has announced a ‘no pay, no work’ agitation, demanding timely release of salaries for staff members of the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs).

The protest has been planned in phases, beginning with a pen-down strike. According to the association, instead of receiving salaries through a regular state budget head, DIET employees are paid under a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS), resulting in frequent delays and uncertainty in salary disbursement.

Arunachal Pradesh has 11 DIETs that impart training to in-service teachers and conduct the two-year diploma in elementary education course for pre-service teachers. The association has stated that numerous teaching and non-teaching staff members have been forced to endure severe financial hardship due to irregular and delayed payment of salaries.

The state cannot leave these educators to live under constant uncertainty. This is not the first time that government employees have been compelled to protest over delayed salaries. Many of those affected depend entirely on their monthly pay to support their families, and any delay in disbursement places them in extremely difficult circumstances.

The government must work out a sustainable and congenial arrangement to ensure that employees do not have to wait for their rightful salaries because of fund shortages or administrative delays. It is unfortunate that teachers and staff members are being forced to agitate for something that is rightfully theirs and which they have earned through their service.