No funds to pay SSA teachers, Punjab tells HC

CHANDIGARH: The cash-strapped Punjab government on Friday admitted before the Punjab and Haryana high court that it was at present unable to pay the salaries of teachers employed under the erstwhile centrally-sponsored scheme Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) or the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) cadre.
The deputy state project director of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan Sanjeev Sharma filed an affidavit before the HC saying that the first instalment of funds from the human research development ministry had been been utilised, and delay in getting the second instalment had held up the salary of employees working under Abhiyan.It was submitted that the state government had written a letter to the central government on December 13, 2018, seeking release of funds.
The state government had filed this reply on a petition moved by Bikramjit Singh and others seeking release of their salaries withheld from June 2018 onwards.
The state government also stated that the central government had reduced the teachers’ salary under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. While the pay of primary teachers had been brought down from Rs 37,800 to Rs 15,000, that of upper primary teachers was cut from Rs 42,800 to Rs 20,000 per month and of secondary teachers from Rs 42,800 to Rs 25,000. The state government further added that this had created a strange situation before the education department and they had sent the file to the finance department to decide on the matter.
The court would now be taken up the case for final arguments on March 4.