Unpaid, govt teacher ‘sells’ veggies

Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, October 12

A teacher at a government school is “working” as a labourer after school hours to earn a living as he has not received his monthly salary of Rs 7,000 for the past three months. 

Karamjit Singh (30), recruited in 2014, claimed that he worked at a vegetable shop at Ndamapur village to support his family. Karamjit teaches at Government Middle School, Rampura, Sangrur.

Karamjit cleared the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) twice and has even cracked the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) National Eligibility Test (NET) in Geography.  Despite being highly qualified, Karamjit works at the vegetable shop to earn Rs 100-200 extra. 

While talking to The Tribune, Karamjit Singh said, “This is how teachers, like me, are running their lives. There is no use of having such qualifications because I am underpaid.”

He said, “Our appointment letters clearly state that we would be regularised with full pay scale after three-year probation period, which was completed in November last year. However, the government has not even initiated the process to regularise us.”

Fighting for his rights, Karamjit always wears a placard around his neck which reads, “sada haq ethe rakh”, while selling vegetables.

While participating in an ongoing indefinite strike by teachers, Karamjit said, “We are not only fighting for ourselves, this fight is for upcoming generations who want to pursue teaching. The government has insulted a sacred profession.”