Srinagar: The non-teaching employees working in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) have urged the government to increase their salaries and formulate a policy for the regularisation of their services. The female employees, who have been serving in these residential schools for over 15 years, emphasize that they work without any breaks due to the nature of their duties.
The KGBV scheme, launched by the Government of India in 2004 and later integrated with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), aims to provide elementary education to students from underprivileged backgrounds. Presently, 97 KGBV residential schools are operational in Jammu and Kashmir, with two yet to be made functional.
A group of female non-teaching employees highlighted that each KGBV has five contractual workers, including cooks and peons, who have been serving for over a decade without job security. “Despite our long years of service, our jobs have not been regularized,” they said, stressing that their continuous presence is essential as KGBVs are residential institutions.
These employees lament that they receive a meager salary of Rs 10,000 per month, which they say is insufficient to meet their financial needs. “Many of us are qualified and even assist in teaching when required, yet our contributions remain unrecognized,” they added.
While the teaching staff under the scheme have been formally engaged, non-teaching employees feel neglected. “Most of us have crossed the age limit for other government jobs. We appeal to the Lieutenant Governor’s administration and the Omar Abdullah-led government to intervene and ensure our regularisation,” they urged.
