Move to cut salary in lieu of regular jobs under lens

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

The regularisation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) teachers by reducing their salaries from Rs 42,800 to Rs 10,300 is back to haunt the Education Department.

Taking note of petitions filed by 219 affected teachers, the National Commission for Backward Classes (BC) has directed the Punjab Chief Secretary to conduct an inquiry into the reduction of SSA/RMSA teachers’ salary in the name of regularisation of their services. The Chief Secretary has been asked to submit action taken report in 15 days.

The petitioners have pleaded that several rules and regulations had been violated by framing different service conditions after recruiting them. Despite instructions from the MHRD to create a unified teaching cadre, the state government, in the process of regularising the teachers, reduced their salaries from Rs 42,800 to Rs 10,300, curtailing salary of teachers by 75 per cent.

Under an “opinion poll’, the Education Department gave two options to teachers to either get their services regularised on lesser salaries or continue to work on existing pay under SSA-RMSA. The teachers belonging to backward classes have lamented that they could make both ends meet in less salary. “This is sheer violation of the constitutional provisions enacted for the protection of the underprivileged,” said Lovekaran Singh, a petitioner.

While regularising 8,886 teachers recruited under the SSA and RMSA in 2018, the department reduced their salaries from Rs 42,700 to Rs 15,000 during the probation period.

Deputy Secretary, National Commission for Backward Classes, BK Pati said the commission had received multiple petitions regarding the “violation” of rules and regulations to exploit SSA/RMSA teachers and headmasters by reducing their pay in the name of regularisation of their services.