ReT teachers protest for delinking salaries

Srinagar/Jammu, March 3: Thousands of Rehbar e Taleem teachers under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Rehbar e Taleem Teachers Forum (JKReTTF) today assembled at Press Enclave Srinagar and at Jammu Press Club in winter capital and demonstrated for resolution of their issues which include release of pending salaries of three months.
Speaking to media on the occasion, the JKReTTF Chairman Farooq Ahmad Tantray said that forty one thousand Rehbar e Taleem teachers under SSA are without salaries from last three months and their families are grappling with odds and passing through traumatizing situation due to financial constraints. “All the assurances and promises of Education Minister and Finance Minister have fallen flat on the ground and teachers are compelled to lock the schools and protest on the streets for highlighting their plight,” said Farooq Tantray.
Mr Tantray said that our main demand is delinking of SSA salaries from Central plan and creating budgetary posts for SSA teachers so that they are paid regularly at the end of every month. “Our families are at the verge of starvation and shopkeepers have stopped to lend us any household items. We are being tormented and disgraced for none of our faults”, he added.
The JKReTTF Chairman also alleged that government has failed to implement a comprehensive transfer policy for ReTs and despite court orders Rehbar e Taleem teaching community is being discriminated and harassed on other fronts also.
Farooq Ahmad Tantray said that regularization files of hundreds of Rehbar e Taleem teachers are gathering dust at the Directorates (Kashmir and Jammu) and government has stalled the confirmation process leading to agonizing situation for these teachers. The Time Bound files of ReTs have o been stopped and the Directorate has also denied them promotions.
Farooq Tantray also said that Rehbar e Taleem scheme was introduced by government of Jammu and Kashmir in 2000 and over sixty five thousand ReTs were engaged by the government in the state. Government has to address our issues so that we can fully concentrate on our primary job of teaching.
The Rehbar e Taleem teachers took out a procession towards Directorate office and raised slogans demanding resolution of their all issues.
The Rehbar e Taleem teachers also protested at Jammu Press Club in winter capital under the leadership of JKReTTF Vice Chairman Bhupinder Singh and State General Secretary Jahangir Alam Khan. The leadership lashed out at the JK government for failing to address the problems of Rehbar e Taleem teachers. The police also stopped the sloganeering teachers to march towards Civil Secretariat Jammu.