Amritsar, February 11
Even as the state government is gearing up for a mega event to mark the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the war memorial here on Wednesday, employees of various departments are lamenting non-payment of salaries.
Staff at a majority of government schools have not been paid salaries since December. It is affecting academic and other routine work at these schools. Though the mid-day meal for the schools situated in the municipal corporation limit has been outsourced to one NGO but its working has been affected in rural areas, said office-bearers of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF). They said teachers were forced to arrange eatables and other articles on their own to continue providing meals to students. They said it would have been nice that the state government had cleared pending dues before holding a mega event.
Similar views were echoed by the Government-Aided School Teachers Union. Government-Aided School Teachers have not been paid salary for the past nearly four months. They received their last salary in September.
Ajay Chauhan, spokesperson of the union, said irregular release of 95 per cent grant-in aid by the state government continuously delayed their salaries. There are about 4,200 employees working in 484 aided schools in the state as they had been without salary for the past three months. Earlier, they were issued salary after a gap of six months in September. The teachers of these schools were complaining of being overburdened as 60 per cent posts were lying vacant. Education at a vital organ of state education system is in stress and the government needed to cure it first. “We respect our martyrs, but at the same time it was wise to raise a nation with rightly educated and groomed youngsters who would guard and develop the nation”, he commented.
A resident of Rani Ka Bagh, Gurbhej Singh, said, the government declared holiday in all city schools whether government or private on account of foundation laying ceremony on February 12. He said the step was taken while ignoring the fact that the final examination of all education boards were about to conclude. He alleged that the announcement was made to utilise the private school transport to ferry supporters to the venue of the ceremony.
Even as the state government is gearing up for a mega event to mark the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the war memorial here on Wednesday, employees of various departments are lamenting non-payment of salaries.
Staff at a majority of government schools have not been paid salaries since December. It is affecting academic and other routine work at these schools. Though the mid-day meal for the schools situated in the municipal corporation limit has been outsourced to one NGO but its working has been affected in rural areas, said office-bearers of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF). They said teachers were forced to arrange eatables and other articles on their own to continue providing meals to students. They said it would have been nice that the state government had cleared pending dues before holding a mega event.
Similar views were echoed by the Government-Aided School Teachers Union. Government-Aided School Teachers have not been paid salary for the past nearly four months. They received their last salary in September.
Ajay Chauhan, spokesperson of the union, said irregular release of 95 per cent grant-in aid by the state government continuously delayed their salaries. There are about 4,200 employees working in 484 aided schools in the state as they had been without salary for the past three months. Earlier, they were issued salary after a gap of six months in September. The teachers of these schools were complaining of being overburdened as 60 per cent posts were lying vacant. Education at a vital organ of state education system is in stress and the government needed to cure it first. “We respect our martyrs, but at the same time it was wise to raise a nation with rightly educated and groomed youngsters who would guard and develop the nation”, he commented.
A resident of Rani Ka Bagh, Gurbhej Singh, said, the government declared holiday in all city schools whether government or private on account of foundation laying ceremony on February 12. He said the step was taken while ignoring the fact that the final examination of all education boards were about to conclude. He alleged that the announcement was made to utilise the private school transport to ferry supporters to the venue of the ceremony.
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