Sans salaries for 7 months, aided school staff on warpath

Due to the non-payment of salaries for several months, teachers and staff of government-aided schools have announced plans to observe a "Black Diwali" as a mark of protest against the state government. Government-aided teachers and other employees union staged a demonstration in Jalandhar today, demanding immediate release of pending salaries and resolution of their grievances.

Gathered at the DAC in Jalandhar, the employees raised slogans against the government, the CM and Finance Minister. They also warned if the government doesn't clear their pending dues, they will air their ire during the Tarn Taran byelection.

Abbit Masih, state vice-president of the union, said thousands of teachers and employees of government-aided schools have not received their salaries for the last seven months.

He said despite repeated meetings with officials and ministers of the Education and Finance Department, salary has not been released to thousands of teachers and employees working in these schools after March 2025. He said in the name of audit of the managements of aided schools, the salaries of the employees have been stopped. While the department does not have sufficient staff to conduct the audit, there is a shortage of section officers.

Union leaders said for the first time since 1967, the state government has stopped the grant of the staff on the pretext of audit of the management committees. They said the government is conspiring to close the aided schools. On festivals like Dasehra and Diwali, when other state governments give DA installments or salary bonuses to the employees, the aided employees are being forced to celebrate the festival without salary.

They said due to non-payment of salaries for a long time, the economic condition of the employees has deteriorated. The government, which credits itself with bringing about an educational revolution, has not given any hearing and has not done anything. The union leaders strongly condemned the government for embarrassing the employees of these schools, amid the festive season, by not paying their salaries.

Union leaders said Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal had announced during the election that he would issue 100 per cent grant to the aided schools on the Delhi pattern. But nothing on these lines happened.

They said the teachers, who teach 1.76 lakh students in aided schools, are living in dire economic circumstances. They said the teaching community has now been forced to vent its anger in the Tarn Taran byelection. In a joint statement, the union leaders warned the government that if the government does not release the salaries of the employees of aided schools for the last eight months, then they will intensify their protest. The responsibility for which will lie with the government.