Written by Alifiya Nalwala https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/demand-pending-salaries-77-special-teachers-go-on-fast-unto-death-6220553/ For the last three years, special teacher Vijaya Patil from Dhule is relying on the charity of her relatives to make ends meet. A government school teacher in service since October 2003, Patil, who is partially blind, said she has not received over 60 per cent of her due salary since 2017. Her husband, who is also visually impaired, has also lost his job and her salary was their sole source of income.
On Thursday, both she and her husband joined 77 special teachers, who staged a hunger strike outside the Central Building in Pune, which houses the offices of the commissioner and director of primary education. Jaywant Khumte, another teacher from the group, said they had been hired by the state government under the Apang Ekatma Shikshan Yojana. “Until 2013, payments were regular and the entire problem started after that. For several years, our salaries were pending and it was finally released in May 2017. But after that, the same problem started again. In August last year, the government had directed to pay 40 per cent of pending salaries, but many districts have not given even that and there is silence on the remaining amount. That’s why we decided to sit on fast unto death from Tuesday,” he said. Another protesting teacher, Deepali Gholap, who has been in service since 2006, said that making ends meet was proving to be a challenge. “Living costs have become so high and on top of that, we have to rely only on our spouses’ salaries to run households. We are compromising even for basic needs,” she said. However, the protesting teachers were called in by the primary education director’s office and were assured of quick action. Dinkar Temkar, joint director, primary education, said, “I have personally directed all district officials to release the 40 per cent salary payments immediately and we also assured the teachers that we will follow-up with the state government on the pending salaries,” he said. -- सादर/ Regards अविनाश शाही/ Avinash Shahi सहायक/ Assistant मानव संसाधन प्रबंध विभाग/ Human Resource Management Department भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक/ Reserve Bank of India लखनऊ क्षेत्रीय कार्यालय/Lucknow RO विस्तार/ Extension: 2232 Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
