Aided school teachers, mid-day meal workers seek hike in wages

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 23

A delegation of the Aided Schools Union will be meeting Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema over the non-issuance of grants for salaries and failure to implement wages according to the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for teaching and non-teaching employees. The union has been demanding the implementation of wages according to the sixth pay panel that was promised before the AAP came to power in Punjab.

A year on, no announcement has been made on giving the benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission to the teachers of govt-aided schools, at par with other government employees.

“In the last four years, the state government has neither implemented the Sixth Pay Commission report nor has increased the dearness allowance (DA). We had met the Education Minister as well to discuss the issue and in its election manifesto, it was announced to give all benefits to government aided school teachers at par with other government employees. It’s been several months now and grants for salaries and other expenses had also not been released on time,” informed Ajay Chohan, representative of the Aided Schools Union, Amritsar.

Chohan also said that government aided schools in Punjab were on the verge of closure as 80 per cent posts in aided schools were vacant, no approved posts of principals are there and the schools are running with the help of ad-hoc staff. There were 9,468 teachers from aided schools when we raised the demand for implementation of the sixth pay panel report. Now, only 1,800 employees are left, including teaching and non-teaching staff as most of them retired or the schools shut down.”

The staff is expecting at least 10-15 per cent wage hike after the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission report. Chohan said they were expecting a positive response from the government.

Mid-day meal workers announce stir

Announcing a stir against the state government over not meeting their poll promise of a wage hike, the Mid-Day Meal Workers Union today held a meeting under state general secretary Mamta Sharma. Mamata Sharma said the government had promised to increase the wages of mid-day meal workers from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000, but it even after the passage of almost one and a half years, the workers were being ignored. “There was no increase in wages, the working conditions are still the same as it was under the previous government. In today’s inflationary times, it is impossible to live on a meagre allowance,” she said.

The union leaders warned the state government that if the minimum wages of the workers are not increased, then they would hold protests at the residence of ministers and MLAs starting from May 28 to June 1. A protest will be held in front of Punjab minister Harbhajan Singh ETO’s residence on June 1.

#harpal cheema