Bathinda, January 29
As the teachers’ unions continue their protest to demand increase in salaries and regular jobs, Punjab Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka said the state government was helpless.
Teachers recruited under the Centre’s schemes such as such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) have been protesting since long.
“A section of teachers, who have not cleared the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET), want the government to regularise their jobs. How can the government fulfill their demands and violate the Right To Education (RTE) Act norms that provide that only those teachers would be appointed who have cleared the test?” he told The Tribune at Maluka village, around 30 km from here, today.
Teachers’ Union district president Deepak Bansal said, “An RTI query has shown that it is up to the discretion of the state governments to make changes in the Centre-sponsored scheme while keeping the Central Government informed. Thus, if the state government wants, it can increase our salaries and regularise our jobs.”
Maluka reiterated that the state government could do little to pacify college lecturers. “They are demanding regularisation of their jobs and be paid as per the revised pay scale. There is a bar on fresh recruitments as there is a legal tangle, dating back to 2003. Till the case is not settled, the government can’t do anything,” the minister said.
Then Maluka hit out at the teachers for protesting before the model code of conduct is enforced. “It is not surprising that the teachers are choosing this month to protest against the government. They are trying to squeeze out as many benefits from the government as they can before the code of conduct is implemented.”
Patting its back on the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme, he said: “When we handed over the mid-day meal contract to a private firm in Bathinda, there was a huge uproar. If you ask me, there is no need for the MDM scheme in the state since there wouldn’t be a house short of food. As ordered by the Centre, we implemented the scheme and, today, we are at number two position in the country, indicating that we are taking the right decisions.”
On the crumbling infrastructure in the government schools, the minister said the school management committees didn’t show interest and were doing a lip service.
“The government is not grappling with fund crunch. We had asked the schools to prepare a proposal of their fund requirement. Several schools didn’t care to send the proposal. Those who received the funds wasted them by handing over the contract to the Public Works Department. Look at the schools in my village. While the PWD spent Rs 10 lakh on one room, we constructed one for Rs 4.5 lakh. The crux is that no one is ready to take the responsibility. It has become a practice to blame the government,” he added.
As the teachers’ unions continue their protest to demand increase in salaries and regular jobs, Punjab Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka said the state government was helpless.
Teachers recruited under the Centre’s schemes such as such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) have been protesting since long.
“A section of teachers, who have not cleared the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET), want the government to regularise their jobs. How can the government fulfill their demands and violate the Right To Education (RTE) Act norms that provide that only those teachers would be appointed who have cleared the test?” he told The Tribune at Maluka village, around 30 km from here, today.
Teachers’ Union district president Deepak Bansal said, “An RTI query has shown that it is up to the discretion of the state governments to make changes in the Centre-sponsored scheme while keeping the Central Government informed. Thus, if the state government wants, it can increase our salaries and regularise our jobs.”
Maluka reiterated that the state government could do little to pacify college lecturers. “They are demanding regularisation of their jobs and be paid as per the revised pay scale. There is a bar on fresh recruitments as there is a legal tangle, dating back to 2003. Till the case is not settled, the government can’t do anything,” the minister said.
Then Maluka hit out at the teachers for protesting before the model code of conduct is enforced. “It is not surprising that the teachers are choosing this month to protest against the government. They are trying to squeeze out as many benefits from the government as they can before the code of conduct is implemented.”
Patting its back on the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme, he said: “When we handed over the mid-day meal contract to a private firm in Bathinda, there was a huge uproar. If you ask me, there is no need for the MDM scheme in the state since there wouldn’t be a house short of food. As ordered by the Centre, we implemented the scheme and, today, we are at number two position in the country, indicating that we are taking the right decisions.”
On the crumbling infrastructure in the government schools, the minister said the school management committees didn’t show interest and were doing a lip service.
“The government is not grappling with fund crunch. We had asked the schools to prepare a proposal of their fund requirement. Several schools didn’t care to send the proposal. Those who received the funds wasted them by handing over the contract to the Public Works Department. Look at the schools in my village. While the PWD spent Rs 10 lakh on one room, we constructed one for Rs 4.5 lakh. The crux is that no one is ready to take the responsibility. It has become a practice to blame the government,” he added.
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