Subash Brahamnu
One of most important obligations on the part of any Government is to to ensure that all the employees under its control must be paid accurate, Adequate and on time salaries but it is very unfortunate that the same is not applicable to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) teachers of Jammu and Kashmir. In this State, more than forty thousand teachers who are working under SSA are very often compelled to protest and agitate against irregularities in their Salaries. It is not first time that conflict between Government and SSA teachers in J&K has come into limelight, infact, more or less it is a routine phenomenon since last many years but successive State Governments have given only empty assurances on the name of finding an everlasting solution of this problem.
It is pertinent to mention that these forty thousand plus SSA teachers who constitutes the bulk of teaching fraternity of School Education Department in J&K have played a very crucial role in reviving and rebuilding educational infrastructure which was badly affected during last two decades due to unrest and tumultuous atmosphere in the state. It is well known to everyone that these SSA teachers, majority among them highly qualified were initially appointed on pattern of Rehbar-e-Taleem who served in the department for first five years merely on a very meager salary of Rs 1500 and Rs 3000 on the assurance of the Government that they will get a handful salary regularly after regularisation of their services but it is again an irony that after completion of five years, situation turned worse due to inconsistent and irregular release of SSA salaries. Now it has become a trend that SSA teachers in our State remain without salaries for months together and only after protests, agitations and lockouts their salaries of merely a month or two are credited into their accounts while for several other months remains liability which creates sense of insecurity among the SSA teachers and it is a fact that feeling of insecurity is always inimical to sense of wellbeing, as it causes anxiety and stress which in return harms physical and mental health of these thousands of SSA teachers.
Irregularities and delay in the salary of SSA teachers is not a matter of concern only for themselves, more importantly it is adversely affecting their status as they find it difficult to even satisfy their day to day domestic and social responsibilities due to unavailability of sufficient financial resources. In the absence of salaries they are finding it hard to fulfill very basic needs of their families. Many old and ailing parents of these SSA teachers helplessly wait for the release of salaries of their offsprings so that they may have access to proper treatment for their ailments. Not only this in this era of high inflation SSA teachers face difficulties in satisfying basic needs of their Children due to dry pockets. There is no wrong in saying that prevailing situation has made thousands of SSA teachers and their family members in Jammu and Kashmir so helpless that they find themselves almost on the verge of starvation.
It is matter of serious concern why thousands of SSA teachers who are performing their duties with full dedication and honesty even in remotest areas are not getting their salaries on time ? Although apart from teaching assignments these SSA Teachers are also performing various other duties of National and State interest every now and then. State Government is also using them for different special duties including election duties, census duties, survey duties and many a time even to make Flagship programs like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan successful and popular but in spite of all these neither State nor union Government has taken cognizance of their genuine grievance related to irregularities in disbursement of their salaries.
It is only due to apathetic approach of the Government that these SSA teachers have to very often protested from streets to Secretariat for getting their hard earned money and in this process many a time these teachers had to face harsh treatments like lathicharge and from police in response to peaceful protests in favour of their salary issue. Although peaceful protests and agitations are part and parcel of a democratic set up but it is duty of Government to timely address the issues raised thereof and solve the same in order to avoid their reoccurrence. But in case of salary issue of SSA teachers in Jammu and Kashmir everytime Government has only tried to pacify the SSA teachers rather than working out a permanent solution of the problem.
Now time has come that Government should alter its approach, amd it is need of the hour to workout a constructive mechanism to abolish irregularities in paying salaries to more than forty thousand SSA Teachers in Jammu and Kashmir. It is very much expected that the State Government will now take appropriate action to solve this long pending but very genuine SSA salary issue once for all and once for ever.
Last but not the least one and only panacea of this whole problem lies in streamlining of SSA teachers salary by de-linking it from Central source of funding and release of the same from State budget. It is firmly believed that once salary of these teachers is credited into their Bank Accounts without any delay. This in return will boost the confidence of teachers and they will work with extra amount of zeal and zest which is beneficial not only for more than forty thousand SSA teachers but also for lacs of students studying in Government schools of Jammu and Kashmir.
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