5178 Punjab teachers, 850 nurses to be regularised

Of the 5,178 teachers, 5,078 were recruited in the master’s cadre and 100 as classical and vernacular teachers by the education department in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday gave nod to the regularisation of 5,178 contractual teachers with full pay scale from October 2019.

HT File

Protesting teachers, however, expressed displeasure with the government for “going back” on its promise of giving full pay scale from February and not addressing the issues of those involved with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

The cabinet also regularised 650 nurses of the health department as per the department’s probation rules, said a government spokesperson. The meeting was chaired by chief minister Amarinder Singh.

Of the 5,178 teachers, 5,078 were recruited in the master’s cadre and 100 as classical and vernacular teachers by the education department in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The cabinet also reduced the probation period from three years to two years, it said. Further, the teachers would be assigned seniority from the date of completion of their probation period.

These teachers are currently paid ₹7,500 per month and their salary would be now fixed at minimum of grade pay, which is ₹15,300 per month, till the time they are given full scale, the release added.