The Nagaland Government Teachers’ Association (NGTA) has stepped up its protest after receiving no positive response from authorities, announcing a fresh demonstration by the 2010 and 2013 batches at Naga Solidarity Park in Kohima on March 2, 2026. NGTA members have been staging a sit-in outside the Directorate of School Education, Kohima, since February 26, 2026, demanding that their salary components be moved into the State’s Non-Development (Non-Plan) expenditure head.
A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Sentiyanger Imchen on February 26, 2026, reviewed the issue of salary placement. Present were the Commissioner & Secretary of School Education, departmental officers, the Mission Director of Samagra Shiksha, the Director of School Education, an OSD from the Finance Department, and representatives from the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) and the Eastern Nagaland Students’ Federation (ENSF). The student bodies warned that the teachers’ agitation was harming classroom instruction and urged a swift resolution in the interest of students’ academic progress.
The Department of School Education told the meeting that the agitating teachers were originally recruited under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) — the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for the 2010 batch and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) for the 2013 batch — against posts created for those programmes. Following clearances from the Personnel & Administrative Reforms and Finance departments and Cabinet approval on April 21, 2022, the teachers were mainstreamed into the State cadre.
Officials noted that these mainstreamed teachers are educationally and professionally qualified and now receive benefits under the 7th Revision of Pay (ROP), including scale pay and other entitlements applicable to regular State government employees, and are governed by standing government instructions. The department said it is making efforts to ensure timely salary payments.
The Finance Department explained that while the State bears a significant portion of the salary bill, the Government of India continues to fund part of the cost under Samagra Shiksha. Central support for 2024–25 was about Rs 78 crore. The department attributed early delays in 2025–26 salary disbursements to technical issues following the rollout of the central SNA SPARSH financial transaction system, but said salaries have since been released regularly.
Finance officials cautioned that transferring the entire salary component to the State’s Non-Plan head would forfeit the Centre’s annual share — estimated at roughly Rs 80 crore — placing a heavy burden on the State exchequer. After deliberations, Chief Secretary Imchen observed that although the Cabinet has approved mainstreaming and the teachers are entitled to regular employee benefits, as long as the Samagra Shiksha/CSS framework provides a central salary share, the salary component cannot be fully shifted to the State’s Non-Plan budget. The government said it will take necessary measures to ensure regular payment of salaries.
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/ngta-to-intensify-protest-from-march-2
Category: Nagaland
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Publish Date: 2026-02-27 23:04:00
