India, Dec. 19 -- The Meghalaya cabinet on Friday approved a proposal to introduce structured pay scales, annual increments and job security for more than 23,000 Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) teachers across the state, chief minister Conrad K Sangma said.

Sangma said the "historic step" would address a long-pending demand of teachers. Under the new framework, eligible ad hoc and SSA teachers would be brought into a structured remuneration system with clearly defined pay slabs and annual increments, replacing the existing fixed, often inconsistent honorarium-based payments.

The move will also provide greater service security, a key concern for teachers who, in many cases, have been working on temporary arrangements for over a decade.

Sang...