India, Sept. 4 -- A large number of people on Thursday came on the streets in Meghalaya's Tura town to demand the release of pending salaries of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC).

The protest comes just days after chief minister Conrad K. Sangma announced that the government would ensure regular release of salaries of employees of autonomous district councils from November 1.

Under the plan, arrears of five months would be cleared before November, after which employees are to receive their salary on time. The announcement, however, did not mention the issue of 44 months of unpaid dues.

Thursday's protest march was organised by the Non-Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) of GHADC and backed by civil society groups und...