Keeping in view that Jammu and Kashmir has not good avenues of private sector jobs, unemployed youth follow a trend to run after the government jobs, even if the jobs are temporary in nature in the beginning. Initially they even embrace financial constraints due to meager initial consolidated salary, in case they are ensured by government that they would get regularised after a fixed period of satisfactory service. Rehabar-e-Taleem Scheme was a teacher employment shceme in Jammu and Kashmir launched a couple of decades ago, through which educated unemployed youth were engaged on merit basic as Rehabar-e-Talem Teachers ( ReTs) in school education department. An ReT had to work on a meager salary of rupees 1500 ( fifteen hundred) per month which was later enhanced to rupees 3000 (three thousand) per month for a period of initial five years. Then they were supposed to get regularised as genral line teacher. Some aspirants were initially engaged as EVs (Education Volunteers) and then converted to ReTs, who were also finally regularised as genral line teacher. So it would have been a happy moment for Muneer Ahmad Lone when in 2005 he would have received an engagement order as EV in the department of education, and he would have celebrated his happiest moment of life when he would have been converted to Rehabar-e-Talem Teacher ( ReT ) in 2013. Because it might have brought a ray of hope for him to get regularised as a General line teacher after the period of five years like other ReTs in the department. Muneer Ahmad Lone lived in Nowshera and was posted at MS Naganari Boniyar. According to the guidelines and rules of ReT scheme he was supposed to get regularised in 2018 after his 13 years satisfactory service. But due to some unknown reasons he roamed from piller to post for his due regularisation but all in vain. Two years had passed by from his due date of regularisation, and he was yet to be regularised. He would have faced tremendous hardships while meeting his experiences without salary. The saddest part of the story is that Muneer Ahmad was suffering from liver cancer from a couple of years, he lost his battle with cancer and breathed his last on 20/12/2020. He performed his duties honesty all along his service. Despite his hard work as a teacher in a government school, his all hopes connected to his dream of regularisation got buried along with his death. Among Rehabar-e-Talem Teachers there would be hundreds of cases, like that of Muneer Ahmad, who would not be receiving their salaries on the pretext of one thing or the other. They would be suffering without their due earned salaries and would be facing various hardships to deal with the circumstances of expensive life. Being an executive member of Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Joint Action Committee (JKTJAC), I usually come to know about the issues faced by various teachers like that of Muneer Ahmad. There are hundreds of service matters being faced by teachers, which continuously arise every now and then. But the issues related to salaries are most serious among all, which are needed to be resolved attentively by authorities.
A teacher Tariq Ahmad “name changed” from south Kashmir, suspended by concerned zonal education officer (ZEO) some two years before, is dealing with a hard time, he is receiving just his half of the monthly salary right from the date of his suspension. He is not in a position to make two ends meet for his family on his insufficient income. “Despite my struggle to intervene the teacher’s representatives time and again in that case, the ZEO is not ready to shun his ego and every time turns his deaf ear to my repeated requests”, said Tariq Ahmad. “Mentally depressed with my suspension issue, last time I told my mother that my source of income from my job is not sufficient to fulfill my daily family needs, I am planning to give up the job and chose any other occupation”, he said. Drowned in a sea of misery, Tariq Ahmad said, ” My mother was all okay when I left the home in the morning for some unavoidable work, and on the same day my mother developed high BP and left for heavenly abode”. This was the saddest day of my life, when I came to know that I lost my most beloved mother, whose separation created an unavoidable void in my heart”, Tariq said. ” I have lost my most valuable asset, now I can go to any extent”, he added. Another teacher from south Kashmir said that despite his remarkable performance in teaching, his grade II (regularisation) order was pending from 2018. He said, ” I am without salaries from past two years, If I had not chosen fruit growing as a side business, I would have been spending harsh days of my life”, “there are still hundreds of teachers like me who had character and antecedent related verification issues, now after clarence from concerned authorities, we are yet to receive Grade II orders”, he added. Now when a teacher working in the department is not mentally stable due to his salary issue, how come is it possible to expect quality education from him. While working a teacher needs to have a good interest in teaching,when a teacher is crushed to ground in agony, is it fair to ask him to perform well. I don’t say that there are no rules and reasons to suspend an employee or to delay his regularisation but are there no options left to ignore minor issues in order to give a chance to a teacher to work in the department with mental peace. On one hand we are conducting seminars and online sessions on mental health issues and on the other hand authorities are indirectly promoting mental health issues by torturing teachers with severe punishments. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said, “Pay the worker his dues before his sweat has dried up”. This is how important the relationship between work and wages is for a worker. Salary and employee are two inseparable sides of a same coin, that is work and wages for an employee go with hand in hand. Now higher authorities of the department of education should take these issues of teachers seriously under consideration and take a review of their unresolved issues in order to find out a workable solution to such grave issues of teachers so that they may take a sigh of relief.
(The author is media secretary J&K Teachers’ Joint Action Committee-JKTJAC. Views are his own) [email protected]