On the issue of pay parity the newly appointed primary teachers staged a protest meeting at Parade Ground on Monday. The teachers assembled at the protest site and raised a vociferous protest against disparity in the entry level scales of primary teachers and other cadres of teachers. The primary teachers appointed in the Government schools of the State after the year 2006 have formed a joint action committee and named it Uttarakhand Primary teachers Sangharsh Samiti.
The convener of the Samiti Amit Kashyap told The Pioneer that the Primary teachers were at a grade pay of Rs4,200 and their salaries were not revised by the State Government even though the salaries of teachers getting a grade pay of Rs4,600 and Rs4,800 were revised due to which an entry level teacher in primary school was getting salary (basic + GP) of Rs13,500 per month.
He informed that the primary teachers in Central Government and States like Punjab and Haryana were getting entry level salary of Rs16,290. Kashyap said that the teachers were apprehensive that if this disparity was not corrected soon then the difference in salaries of primary teachers and others in the State Education department would be highly skewed against primary teachers.
He regretted the fact that the Prathemik Shikshak Sangh (PSS), the organisation of primary teachers was not taking up the important issue seriously which prompted the new teachers to form a separate organisation which solely would work for bringing in pay parity at the entry level of primary teachers. Kashyap said the Sangh would undertake a secretariat march programme on Tuesday to press for their demand.