‘No hike for 5 yrs’: Adarsh schools staff demand raise

The teaching staff of Adarsh schools, established to provide free education to poor students in the rural areas of the state, have demanded an increase in their salaries, alleging that there has been no hike for over five years and that freshers were being hired at higher salaries than senior staff. The staff has also planned to launch a protest on October 27 if the demand was not met.
Jasvir Singh Galoti, president of the Adarsh Schools Teaching and Non-teaching Mulazim Union, said 26 such schools were opened across Punjab in 2011, and 24 remain functional.
These schools operate with 70% funding from state government and 30% from private partners and teachers working for over five years in the establishment earn around ₹10,300 per month.
Of the 24 Adarsh schools running across Punjab, 11 are managed by district education officers on an ad hoc basis.
“Of these, 11 schools, including those in Ferozepur, Moga, and other districts, are now under district education officers. We have been asking for a hike in salary as many of us have been getting ₹10,300 monthly. The teachers who have been working for over eight years in the schools are paid ₹10,300 without any salary hike,” Galoti said.
The teachers have also alleged that freshers were being hired at higher salaries than senior staff.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who chairs these CBSE-affiliated schools, was approached by the union months ago.
“We submitted our request to the chief minister in Sangrur and Jalandhar, and we were promised a solution, but nothing has happened yet,” said Sukhdeep Kaur, general secretary of the union.
The union also pointed out that the students in Adarsh schools are treated the same as those in government schools, receiving free uniforms, books, and mid-day meals.
Assistant secretary of the union Salim Mohammad said: “The union has held 14 meetings with the state education minister over the issue, and each time, we were told that the file is pending at the chief minister’s level. We are now planning a protest in Sangrur on October 27 to press for our demand.”
The director general of school education Vinay Bublani said these teachers were not government employees.
Regarding the issue of freshers receiving higher pay, Bublani said that the matter was under review following their representation and a high court directive.