E-Paper
Schools in mess
AT A time when the state government is providing unemployment dole to youths and Kanya Vidya Dhan to schoolgirls, 471 sanitary employees of primary schools are working for a meagre salary of Rs 150 per month.
Sanitary staff work for a pittance
AT A time when the state government is providing unemployment dole to youths and Kanya Vidya Dhan to schoolgirls, 471 sanitary employees of primary schools are working for a meagre salary of Rs 150 per month.
And to earn this money they everyday clean the toilets and sweep the entire campus of government-run primary schools.
These employees who were recruited as “Ansakalik” employees at primary schools are working on a regular basis for the past 12 years. At the start they were getting only Rs 3 as monthly payment. This amount was later increased to Rs 15. Last time in the year 1997 their salary was hiked to Rs 150 per month.
Despite revisions in their salary they are still drawing a pittance. On many occasions these “Ansakalik” employees have raised their demands for better salary and status of permanent class four employees but their voices have fallen on deaf ears. And as a result of this they continue to suffer silently.
In Kanpur, about 252 “Ansakalik” employees are working in schools located in the city area and about 219 employees are working in rural areas.
The state administration in 1997 had directed the state education director (Basic) to ensure through Basic Siksha Adhikaris (BSAs) that all the “Ansakalik” employees completed 60 years of age before their retirement from service.
Besides, it also directed to maintain service books of all the employees so as to know their age for retirement from the service. But, sources alleged that these service books in case of most of the employees have not been made.
Of late, state basic education authorities last month sought detailed information about these employees but in the absence of employees’ service books the required details of the employees may not be furnished.
The “Ansakalik” employees now fear that either many of them may be excluded from the list or false details about them may be furnished with the relevant authorities.
Therefore, to avert such a situation, the state vice-president of the UP Basic Siksha Parishad Karmachari Association Brijendra Singh has sent a letter to the state education minister (Basic) alleging that BSA officials have not made service books of most of the “Ansakalik” employees and their names may not be mentioned in the wages bills by the department. He have urged the authorities to ensure that BSAs takes utmost care in preparing the service details about “Ansakalik” employees.
Besides, Singh has demanded that these employees be considered for the permanent post of class four employees. One of the “Ansakalik” employee with Poorva Madhyamik Vidhyalya Budheda under Vidhanu development block alleged that the basic education department considered them as class four employees in terms of their job but they were not paid accordingly.
When asked about not maintaining service books of the “Ansakalik” employees, BSA Komal Yadav said these employees were not selected through any selection process and therefore, their service books could not be maintained.
