Amid crisis, teachers'' wait for regular jobs gets longer

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 16

Para teachers, primary assistant teachers and those appointed through the parent-teacher associations (PTAs) will have to wait for job regularisation for some months more despite the stay vacated by the Supreme Court. The reason: an acute financial crunch due to the Covid-19 curfew.

The state government had decided to regularise the services of these teachers working for 12 to 15 years and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had also released regular pay scales to them in 2018.

However, the decision was challenged in the Supreme Court on the plea that the set procedure for the recruitment was not followed, and the matter was pending in the apex court, said Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj.

“We have asked the Director, Higher Education, to start the job regularisation process strictly as per the SC judgment, but the Finance Department is currently not in a position to bear any burden,” the minister said.

There are 15,000 teachers appointed through the parent-teacher associations, para teachers and assistant primary assistant teachers, who are working on an ad-hoc basis for more than 12 years.

The stay was vacated on April 17 last, but nothing could be done in this regard due to the lockdown. The state is now facing a grim financial situation and has imposed a 30 per cent cut in salaries and allowances of MLAs and former MLAs, besides taking other austerity measures.