Mahendra Kumar Mishra, an ad hoc teacher at Moksh Dwar Inter College, Bahraich district, died on June 26 due to mouth cancer as his family was unable to sustain the high treatment cost. “My father was not getting salary since April 2022. We continued treatment for some time after taking loan from relatives. We want his deserved salary and other benefits to survive as he was the only earning member,” said his daughter Pallavi Mishra. The late Mishra was among the hundreds of ad hoc teachers working in government-aided inter colleges whose salaries have been pending since almost one year.
Hundreds of his colleagues are organising protests since the last 33 days at the Directorate of Secondary Education campus in Lucknow, demanding payment of the salary, alleging apathy by the Uttar Pradesh Government, despite these teachers spending roughly two decades of service in these aided inter colleges and getting regular salaries till almost a year ago.
“The Uttar Pradesh Government paid us regular salaries and other benefits given to regular employees for roughly two decades, but put an end to it around April-June, 2022. How can our families survive as many of us are the only earning member in the family. The department is doing gross injustice,” said Raj Mani Singh, president of the Madhyamik Tadarth Shikshak Sangharsh Samiti, the organisation leading the sit-in protest.
‘Criminal act’
The problem started due to the irregular functioning of the recruiting bodies since the late 1990s. They failed to advertise regular vacancies time to time against sanctioned posts, directing the managements concerned to appoint teachers on ad hoc basis and disbursed payment to them like regular teachers. “We do the same work as regular employees and withholding salaries is a criminal act. In the time of high inflation, many of us are unable to pay equated monthly instalment [EMI] for house and other loans,” added Mr. Singh.
The Uttar Pradesh Government claims the Supreme Court has asked it to conduct examination for ad hoc teachers and regularise those who qualify in the test. “Their appointment was done by the management. The matter went to the apex court. It directed us to conduct a test and regularise those who meet the requirements and qualify. Most of these teachers didn’t appear in the process, hence are not getting the salaries, as the State government is not liable for them,” said Mahendra Dev, Director, Secondary Education, Department of Education.
The protesters argue that the test was meant for those ad hoc teachers who were appointed by the management for contractual period like 11 months and given extensions again, and not for this group of ad hoc teachers. Amid the tussle, it is not only 1,500-odd teachers having qualifications such as PhD in topics of their disciplines, but also their family members who are facing the brunt.
In the light of such contentious and disputed matters arising from time to time, the Uttar Pradesh government in April 2023 has planned an integrated State Education Service Selection Commission for recruitment of teachers in government-aided educational institutions apart from appointment in other government educational institutions, so that such issues of appointment not arise in future.
