In support of their various demands, the primary teachers of the Government schools of the State under the banner of Uttarakhand Prathemik Shikshak Sangharsh Samiti (UPSSS) organised a dharna at the protest site here on Sunday.
The primary teachers appointed in the Government schools of the State after the year 2006 have formed a joint action committee and named it UPSSS. These teachers are particularly peeved over the disparity in their pay vis-a-vis other cadres of teachers. The convener of the samiti, Amit Kashyap told The Pioneer that the Primary teachers are at a grade pay of Rs4200 and their salaries were not revised by the State Government even though the salaries of teachers getting a grade pay of 4600 and Rs4800 were revised due to which an entry level teacher in primary school is getting salary (basic + GP) of Rs13500 per month. He informed that the primary teachers in Central Government and States like Punjab and Haryana are getting entry level salary of Rs16290. Kashyap said that if this disparity is 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. It is learnt that the Prathemik Shikshak Sangh (PSS), the organisation of primary teachers is not taking up the important issue seriously enough 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.
Addressing the teachers the State President of the UPSSS, Anup Jadali said that the new teachers are on a path of agitation for long but the education department is not heeding to the demands. He said UPSSS would be forced to intensify its agitation if the demands are not accepted soon.
The other demands of the teachers are Implementation of a transparent transfer act and abolition of the Block cadre concept under which the newly appointed teachers are posted for 10 years in the same block. The UPSSS is also demanding payment of inaccessible allowance and benefit of Assured Career Progression (ACP) for the primary teachers.