Bank officials, board members not to be present in meeting
Shillong, May 6: The state government will hold another round of talks with deficit school and college teachers on the proposed centralised provident fund (CPF) scheme, following objections raised over the composition of an earlier meeting.
The meeting likely to be held on May 19 or 20 will include all deficit teachers’ and lecturers’ associations and exclude bank officials and members of Board of Trustees.
Informing this on Wednesday, Commissioner & Secretary in-charge Education, Vijay Kumar Mantri said, “We also want to take other associations from Jaintia Hills and others involved in deficit teachers and lecturers – we will invite all of them and see that we listen to all their concerns.”
Education department has taken note of concerns flagged by the Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association and Khasi Jaintia Deficit School Teachers’ Association, who walked out of Tuesday’s meeting, the official said.
The teachers associations objected to presence of anyone apart from the government and the deficit teachers to discuss the Meghalaya Non-Government School and College Employees Centralised Provident Fund Scheme, 2026.
“We appreciate their concerns and accordingly we will invite only the deficit teachers and lecturers on May 19 or 20. We will listen to them and see what we can do,” Mantri said.
Wednesday’s meeting was attended by representatives of MCTA, KJDSTA, members of the Board of Trustees, and State Bank of India officials. SBI has been entrusted with implementation of the 2026 CPF Scheme for employees of aided schools and colleges.
During the meeting, MCTA said it would refrain from detailed comments since the matter relating to the CPF Scheme is sub-judice before the High Court of Meghalaya.
KJDSTA expressed concern that representatives from other regions, particularly Garo Hills, were not present and said discussions should presently be confined to deficit teachers and lecturers only.
“Taking these concerns into consideration, the Education Department has decided to convene another round of meetings involving representatives of deficit teachers and lecturers from different parts of the State to ensure wider consultation and participation,” Mantri said.
The All Meghalaya Primary School Teachers’ Association requested awareness programmes on the provisions and operational aspects of the newly notified scheme.
The department “welcomed the suggestion positively and agreed that awareness and sensitisation initiatives would be beneficial for all stakeholders,” he said.
On retired teachers and lecturers, several sought permission for 100% withdrawal of the CPF amount accumulated in their accounts.
“After due deliberation, the Department has taken a positive decision in this regard and instructed SBI officials to furnish the detailed statement of all concerned employees by the 10th of this month,” Mantri said.
He said the statements will be verified by the concerned Directorates, after which authorisation will be issued enabling eligible retired teachers and lecturers to approach SBI and withdraw the full amount.
Retired school teachers desirous of opting out must submit an undertaking to the concerned District School Education Officer, while college lecturers must submit it to the Directorate of Higher & Technical Education.
Mantri added that the department will await the outcome of the matter pending before the High Court before proceeding with implementation and operationalisation of the CPF Scheme.
