No salaries, teachers take to social media

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, October 18

Upset over the alleged indifferent attitude of his school administration and the principal towards the non-payment of his salary for the last several months, Simer Jit Singh, a TGT in computer science, took to social media to narrate his ordeal and seek suggestions that what steps he should take to get his salary.

He posted a long note on ‘NoticeBoard - Jalandhar’ by Tinu Luthra, (a popular Facebook group), with a title ‘Need help and suggestion’ #MeraBharatMahaan. In his post, he mentioned that being sick of the fact that he is not receiving his salary on time, he tendered resignation on September 25.

Simer Jit said he was a teacher at one of the renowned schools here. Even before the lockdown, the school was releasing salaries after three months. “The lockdown worsened the situation and the delay period jumped to five months”, he said, adding that even after that they were not released the full amount.

Talking to The Tribune, he said his pending salary amount had mounted to Rs 1.26 lakh. He had not received 25 per cent of his June 2019 salary, 50 per cent of March salary and 100 per cent salary for the months of June, July, August and September. “I contacted the authorities on several occasions, but in vain. They have even stopped taking my calls or replying to my messages,” he added. People have advised him to move court, but he feels it will only waste his time as well money.

Simer Jit Singh’s social media post received such a good response that other teachers too came forward to narrate their ordeals. Teachers alleged that although parents had been paying fee and other charges, the school authorities had failed to clear their dues.

Another teacher, Kavita Mishra (name changed), said she had been facing financial problems due to the non-payment of her salary for the last three months. “My husband’s business faced huge losses amid the lockdown. I am also not receiving my salary on time. I am struggling to pay my kids’ fee and meet other expenses,” she added.

Assistant Labour Commissioner, Baljeet Singh, said all those teachers who were deprived of their salaries and being harassed by schools must write to the Labour Department and reach out to the labour inspector concerned in their district. “Salaries are teachers’ basic right, no school management can deny that,” he added.