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BJP will address your issues after 2024 polls: Union minister to para teachers
Teaching in primary schools was hit as para teachers took mass casual leave to attend the Lucknow convention organised by minister.
Teaching across the state was affected as thousands of shiksha mitras or para teachers took mass casual leave to attend a Lucknow convention on Monday.
The convention was organised by a body, patronised by Union minister of state Kaushal Kishore who promised the teachers that after 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP government would address their long pending demands of regularisation. Seeking support of over 1.46 lakh shiiksha mitras, Kishore promised to take up the issue of their regularisation before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
“The BJP government is seriously looking into the issues raised by you and will address all of them after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. I will take up your issue before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath,” the minister said at a convention of shiksha mitras at the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan in Lucknow on Monday.
The minister reminded the para teachers that despite opposing the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha and 2022 UP elections, the BJP government under Yogi Adityanath had raised their salaries. The convention was organised by Adarsh Samayojit Shikshak Shiksha Mitra Welfare Association Uttar Pradesh, which is patronised by Kishore.
“In 2019 and 2022, the teachers were misled by some opposition leaders then. After 2024 elections the BJP government will take steps to protect the interest of shiksha mitras,” he said. The convention was attended by shiksha mitras and their families even as teaching in primary schools across the state suffered due to para teachers taking mass casual leave.
Welcoming the minister’s assurance, the para teachers promised to extend their support to the BJP government in 2024 elections.
“Lakhs of shiksha mitras along with their families and all the office bearers of the shiksha mitra organisation participated in this convention,” Kishore said.
Kishore blamed the then Samajwadi Party government for the present condition of para teachers.
“Had the SP government raised their salaries at par with regular teachers the shiksha mitras would not have been in this condition today. They lost the case in the Supreme Court as they were unable to fulfill the qualifications required of an assistant teacher, a post on which they were regularised,” he said. Para teachers later raised slogans in support of Kishore who in turn raised slogans in support of the teachers.
Executive state general secretary of Adarsh Samayojit Shikshak Shiksha Mitra Welfare Association Uttar Pradesh, Umesh Kumar Pandey said the convention was organised after talks with Kishore. He said all organisations of para teachers participated at the convention.
A BRIEF HISTORY
The BSP government (2007-2012), had tried to regularise the services of these para teachers but it was only after 2012, when the Samajwadi Party came to power it initiated steps to regularise their services (then there were 1.73 lakh para teachers) through an amendment in the rules.
Finally, their services were regularised during Akhilesh Yadav government’s tenure (2012-2017) in 2014.
However, in 2017, the Supreme Court quashed their appointment and declared that the services of these contractual teachers can’t be regularised until they cleared the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET).
After the SC judgement, the salaries of these teachers were slashed from ₹38,848 per month (regular scale) to ₹3,500 per month (contractual payment).
The Yogi Adityanath government, in its first stint in power (2017-2022) increased the payout from ₹3,500 to ₹10,000.
The shiksha mitras have been demanding regularisation of services, raising retirement age from 60 years to 62 years, equal pay at par with regular teachers.
