Blaming the Central Government for the woes of protesting teachers in Punjab by withdrawing the EGS, AIE and STR schemes, the State Government on Sunday earned itself accolades by accepting their demands.
Bringing to an “amicable end” the impasse between the Punjab Government and the protesting teachers, the former agreed “to bear the burden of concerned schemes as ‘Special State Funded Schemes’ for a period of two years”.
The volunteer teachers under these schemes have been given two-year’s time to “clear the mandatory Teacher's Eligibility Test (TET) to enable them to be appointed as regular teachers in the schools.
With this, the teachers have also called off their strike. The decisions were taken during hours-long and exhaustive meeting between the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and a delegation of EGS Volunteers Association led by its president Madan lal.
Ignoring their demand since long, the Government acted in haste as the ongoing strike by the teachers who were terminated by the State Government has started taking strong political overtones, especially after the death of a 14-year-old baby girl of one of the protestant on Thursday.
The Opposition political parties, including the Congress, the People’s Party of Punjab, in the State left no opportunity to attack the SAD-BJP Government for its apathy appeasing the protesters who want to be reinstated, as leaders of the ruling coalition stayed away from the protest site.
Giving details of the meeting, Chief Minister’s Advisor on National Affairs and Media, Harcharan Bains said: “Chief Minister heard the delegation patiently. After considering all demands, he gave his nod to revive these centrally-sponsored education schemes which were discontinued by the Congress-led UPA Government in 2008, rendering thousands of volunteers enrolled under EGS, AIE and STR schemes jobless.”
Bains said that the problem had been created by Centre’s cruel decisions which had floated these schemes but had later suddenly pulled its hands back from it without care or concern for the future of the affected volunteers and children.
“This left the State Government with harsh option of either sending all engaged teaching workers back home empty handed or taking unprecedented but extremely difficult decision to bear entire burden on its own shoulders, despite massive fiscal implications and liability,” he added.
As per the agreement, the Chief Minister has approved to enhance consolidated honorarium of EGS volunteers from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per month, who had earlier worked under the EGS in the State and has cleared ETT-Bed.
likewise, the EGS Volunteers who have not yet cleared the ETT, BEd would now be taken in the revived EGS Scheme with a consolidated honorarium of Rs 2,500 per month till they cleared ETT-BEd.
Consequent upon clearing ETT, their honorarium would also be hiked to Rs 5,000 per month. It was also decided in the meeting that the Department of School Education or School administration may also take any work from these volunteers under the revised EGS and STR scheme.