Although state administration has done a lot for teachers, who mostly were seen hitting the streets last year to demand their legitimate rights of equality with other government employees in terms of their salary benefits according to the recommendations of 7th pay commission, by fulfilling their demand to provide them their legitimate rights after their big struggle of a series of protests including a month long hunger strike under the banner of Teachers Joint Action Committee (TJAC), so thousands of teachers took a sigh of relief after years. Pertinent to mention that Rehbar-e-Taleem scheme was a state owned scheme according to which a teacher after rendering five years satisfactory service on a meager honorarium of rupees 1500 then enhanced to rupees 3000 would get regularised as regular teacher. The same thing happened thousands of Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers as per the commitment of government and according to recruitment rules were regularised after five years service and got transition to regular grade teachers. But ill-fate played its role, because state government decided to pay them from Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which differed in rules of recruitment. According to the norms of SSA a teacher had to be recruited on contractual basis on a fixed honorarium for a limited period. This difference in recruitment rules between SSA and Rehbar-e-Taleem went heavy on the Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers, so they wanted their salaries from state sector and started a struggle for that.
After a working committee, framed by government to resolve the issues of teacher, submitted it’s report , a historical decision was taken by state administrative council (SAC) to link the salaries of thousands of Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers, who earlier were getting salaries from erstwhile SSA scheme irregularly, to state sector and were designated as Teacher Grade II. But the decision was made applicable to only graduates and above qualification holders. The undergraduate teachers were not considered eligible for Teacher Grade ll posts, so for them another working committee was immediately made to submit it’s report within a month’s time to find out some workable solution to their issue. However, months have passed neither any report was submitted by Committee nor any favourable decision was taken by state administration infavour of those left out teachers. Yet there are thousands of teachers and masters(according to SAC decision government was going to identify vacant posts for masters) who are still waiting for justice as per the commitment of government and are suffering a lot. Maximum among the Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers, who were paid their salaries on regular pay and grade through erstwhile SSA scheme , who were undergraduate at the time recruitment and were engaged as subject specific teachers as per the norms of Ret scheme a decade before, were merit holders but left the studies in midway after getting job security under Rehbar-e-Taleem Scheme. Left out also include masters who were paid through erstwhile SSA scheme after their promotion, however were initially recruited as general line teachers through Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Recruitment Board (JKSSRB). The unregularised Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers who have completed their five years tenure but are yet to be regularised are also roaming from piller to post for getting regularisation. Not only that all the three categories of teachers/masters viz. Regularised undergraduate Rehbar-e-taleem Teachers, masters and unregularised Rets are working without salaries from last five months.
Ironically, at present other than Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers, there are many undergraduate teachers who have been engaged through SSRB at the time when 10+2 candidates were eligible for teacher posts. If they are not asked to complete the graduation then why only undergraduate Rehbar-e-taleem Teachers are made to suffer by playing double standard with them. In this way teacher the builder of nation who is being treated with high dignity and esteem in other countries faces not only unwell treatment in Jammu and Kashmir but is also deprived from his deserved legitimate rights too. If the timely releasing of salaries and pay commission recommended perks apply on all government employees, then why a section of particular cadre of regular grade employees (Undergraduate Regularised Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers ) have been asked to wait for government decision for seventh pay commission benefits, and have been spared without their monthly salaries from last five months, despite working in the department on regular pay and grade from more than a decade and despite availing the benefit of 6th pay commission. Over and above this it is very unfortunate that those unregularised teachers who have completed their five years tenure two years before are sailing in the same boat. They are receiving a meager monthly honorarium of rupees three thousand only, who should have been receiving full salary from two years before at the time of completion of their initial period. Though on the eve of Eidul-Fitr government is releasing only one month’s salary to them, which amounts mere eyewash for them nothing else. As those teachers fail to run their households who have already been declared defaulters by the banking authorities for not paying the EMI of their already drawn loans on monthly basis. So government should feel the pain of those distressed teachers and should resolve their issue by taking into consideration their legitimate rights and then fulfilling them at an earliest.
( The author is a freelancer. Views are his own [email protected])
