By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: The teachers of Urdu medium primary schools run by Malegaon Municipal Corporation have not got their salaries for the last four months, thanks to the lethargic attitude of the local government body.
Altaf Husain, 40, who has been teaching in a Malegaon Corporation Urdu school for 16 years, told TwoCircles.net on phone that he and other teachers of municipal schools have not got salaries for four months. “Through debts we are managing to make our two ends meet,” he said.
Malegaon with 789,000 people is a Muslim-dominated Taluka of Nashik district.
Urdu teachers are not alone in their misery. Same is the condition with Marathi medium school teachers under the municipal corporation. They also have not got salaries for four months.
Worse is the case of the pensioners. Some of those who depend only on pensions are facing hunger and starvation as the lenders have stopped giving them loans.
‘We are deprived of pension for consecutive five months. It is going to be the sixth month and still we have to wait. I have been a pensioner for last two years and always I have to face the same problem. For how long will we depend on the debts from our relatives?’ asked Ismail, a pensioner.
The worst is that the teachers and pensioners are not paid fully even after the long time. ‘After four or five months we are paid the salary of one or two months and the rest is postponed for unknown period,’ says Altaf.
For this they blame the authorities of Malegaon Municipal Corporation and the school board. The grant from the government is sent on regular basis but it is held for months at the corporation.
The situation has compelled many teachers to start some side business to earn livelihood. And this will certainly divert their attention from students. But no one seems to be caring for that.
The Bombay High Court had earlier ordered the state government and Malegaon Municipal Corporation to pay the arrears to teachers immediately and ensure timely payment of their monthly salaries.
As the authorities concerned have failed to implement the court order, the primary teachers’ organization Shikshak Sangh has filed a petition against the corporation and the government. The petition is set to be heard today in Mumbai.