E-Paper
Drawing and disbursing powers: Finally, charge of DDOs given to 225 school officials
Giving a relief to teachers who failed to withdraw salaries for past two months in the absence of principals or drawing and disbursing officials (DDOs), Punjab government gave additional charge of DDOs to 225 school officials
Giving a major relief to teachers in Punjab who failed to withdraw their salaries for the past two months in the absence of principals or drawing and disbursing officials (DDOs), the state government on Monday gave additional charge of DDOs to 225 school officials.
As highlighted earlier by the HT, these schools in the state were unable to receive any grant released by the state or the Union government.
The DDO powers have been given to officials in 16 schools in Gurdaspur, seven in Barnala, four in Ludhiana, 45 in Mansa, 12 in Sangrur, 11 in Ferozepur, 33 in Moga, nine in Jalandhar, two in Amritsar, five in Muktsar Sahib, one in Faridkot, 29 schools in Bathinda, 20 in Tarn Taran, four in Fazilka, two in SBS Nagar, 14 in Hoshiarpur, three in Fatehgarh Sahib and eight in Kapurthala.
According to the order of the chief secretary, education department, schools, Jaspreet Talwar, these head teachers who have been given additional charges won’t get any financial benefits.
Notably, these schools are functioning without heads as over 100 principals had moved the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) in April against the dual charge of schools assigned to them. Some of them were being forced to travel over 100 km thrice a week as the schools assigned to them were located far apart.
The HC had stayed the department orders after which the principals stopped visiting schools in other districts.
Appreciating the order, a school teacher said, “This is a huge relief for all of us as we didn’t get our salaries for a long time. The government should have done this earlier, but we are grateful to the officials for making the right decision.”
The Punjab Director General of School Education (DGSE) had directed all district education officers to make recommendations by May 20 for giving additional charge of schools to principals in their parent districts.
Following the orders of the DGSE, the district education officers (DEOs) submitted their list of recommendations to the state department.
Another aggrieved principal, who had moved the court, appreciated the education minister for giving the double charge to local school heads.
“It wasn’t easy for us to travel over 100 km thrice a week and, hence, we had to move the court against the order of the former school education secretary Krishan Kumar. It is a great relief for the teachers and their families as it was affecting their health too,” a principal said.
