Leaders of Andhra Pradesh Primary Teachers’ Association (APPTA) on Sunday demanded the immediate release of the salaries of Samagra Shiksha employees, which have been pending for the last two months.In a statement, the association’s State president K. Prakash Rao and general secretary M. G. Mehdi urged the government to implement a permanent mechanism to ensure salary payments on a fixed date every month and adopt measures to provide financial security to the Samagra Shiksha employees.They said approximately 23,000 Samagra Shiksha employees working under the Department of School Education across 28 districts of Andhra Pradesh had not received their salaries for the past two months and were facing severe financial and psychological hardships.“It is deeply distressing that these employees, who serve as the backbone of the government education system, are being forced into debt to support their families and meet basic living expenses,” they said.The APPTA leaders said that those awaiting salaries included teaching and non-teaching staff of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), Cluster Resource Mobile Teachers, Management Information System (MIS) coordinators, data entry operators, accounts staff, site engineers, physiotherapists, Inclusive Education Resource Teachers, messengers, part-time instructors, District Project Office staff and several other categories of employees. They said many employees were unable to meet essential expenses such as house rent, monthly bank loan instalments, children’s education fees, medical expenses for elderly family members, treatment costs for pregnant women, and the purchase of basic necessities. While some employees have borrowed money from relatives and friends, others have reportedly pledged household belongings to sustain their families.“Despite these challenging circumstances, Samagra Shiksha employees continue to discharge their responsibilities without interruption. These include managing educational programmes in government schools, administering Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, providing services to children with special needs, conducting training programmes, managing educational data and implementing government directives and initiatives,” they said.The association expressed concern that despite submitting several representations to the authorities concerned, no solution had been provided so far. They urged the government to recognise this issue not merely as an administrative matter but as an urgent humanitarian concern affecting the livelihoods of 23,000 families and to respond without delay. Published - August 02, 2026 08:25 pm IST