On Day I, education minister disburses para-teachers’ dues

By: Ashiwani Kumar
RANCHI: On his first day in office, state school education and literacy minister Jagarnath Mahto signed orders to disburse Rs 72 crore to pay outstanding dues of para-teachers and directed officials to ensure timely payments in the future.
Notably, the Mahagathbandhan parties during their election rallies had on several occasions attacked the Raghubar Das-led government for stalling payments to para-teachers for months. Though Mahto also holds the excise and prohibition portfolio, he decided to address the issue of nonpayment of honorariums to para-teachers on the first day as it was his “priority” to solve the issue.
Speaking to TOI, the minister said, “I had decided to sign the pay orders on the very first day after assuming charge of the office as it was my first priority to take care of our para-teachers who have been neglected for a long time.” He added, “The honorarium they get is very less and the payments were stalled for several months. To address the other issues, I need some time to go through the official documents.”
Soon after signing the pay orders, Mahto departed for Garhwa to monitor the investigation in the case of minor school girl of a government residential school becoming pregnant. Meanwhile, following the footprints of chief minister Hemant Soren, Mahto too appealed to his wellwishers to greet him with school books and stationery instead of flower bouquets.
Bouquets last for an hour or two: Education minister
Mahto said, “I will distribute the books to the poor children of the state who cannot afford them. I thank all my wellwishers for greeting me with bouquets, all gifts are precious to me, but bouquets last for an hour or two. Hence, I thought they can greet me with books which will not cost much, but can help the needy.”
He also said, “It is often seen that government officials choose private schools over state-run schools for their children. We will find out the reasons and resolve them. Ultimately, it will help government schools to compete with the private ones.” On the upcoming Union Budget session, Mahto said, “Our state is still backward in terms of education. Through media, I want to request the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister to allot enough funds for education so that we can develop our the system in a better manner and help poor children to study.”
Meanwhile, on issues such as recruitment, a review meeting of the education department has been called on February 5 to find ways to resolve pending problems.