PATNA: Deputy chief minister-cum-finance minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday said the state government would soon make a ‘respectable’ increase in salary of around four lakh contractual (Niyojit) teachers who are on strike for the past 16 days demanding pay-scale at par with the regular teachers.
“It was the NDA government which earlier increased their salary, and again we will provide a respectable increase in their emoluments,” Modi said in the state legislative council while replying on behalf of the government during a debate on third supplementary budget for 2019-20 fiscal.
Modi urged the striking teachers to return to work.
Participating in the debate, several opposition members raised the issue and urged the government to accept their demands to end the agitation in the interest of career of lakhs of students whose answersheets of intermediate examination are not being evaluated due to the strike.
Contacted over phone, Modi told TOI, “CM Nitish Kumar has already declared that the state government would make a ‘respectable’ increase in their salary. Today, I announced the same in the council. Now, teachers should return to their duty.”
On being asked whether the state government was ready to accept the striking teachers’ demand of ‘equal pay for equal work’, Modi said there was no relevance of such demand in the wake of the Supreme Court’s order in this matter.
In a landmark order passed on May 10 last year, the Supreme Court had refused to regularise the services of contractual teachers and set aside the Patna high court ruling that they were eligible to get ‘equal pay for equal work.’
A bench of justices Abhay Manohar Sapre and U U Lalit, while allowing the plea of the Bihar government challenging the October 31, 2017 high court order, had also declined to treat contractual teachers at par with regular teachers. The apex court had said the Bihar government was justified in having two different streams or cadres for teachers and there has been no violation of the rights of 'Niyojit' (contractual) teachers nor has there been any discrimination against them.
The SC, however, raised concern over the emoluments made available to ‘Niyojit’ teachers at the initial stage and suggested that the state government may consider raising the scales of such teachers at least to the level suggested by the three-member committee.
“It was the NDA government which earlier increased their salary, and again we will provide a respectable increase in their emoluments,” Modi said in the state legislative council while replying on behalf of the government during a debate on third supplementary budget for 2019-20 fiscal.
Modi urged the striking teachers to return to work.
Participating in the debate, several opposition members raised the issue and urged the government to accept their demands to end the agitation in the interest of career of lakhs of students whose answersheets of intermediate examination are not being evaluated due to the strike.
Contacted over phone, Modi told TOI, “CM Nitish Kumar has already declared that the state government would make a ‘respectable’ increase in their salary. Today, I announced the same in the council. Now, teachers should return to their duty.”
On being asked whether the state government was ready to accept the striking teachers’ demand of ‘equal pay for equal work’, Modi said there was no relevance of such demand in the wake of the Supreme Court’s order in this matter.
In a landmark order passed on May 10 last year, the Supreme Court had refused to regularise the services of contractual teachers and set aside the Patna high court ruling that they were eligible to get ‘equal pay for equal work.’
A bench of justices Abhay Manohar Sapre and U U Lalit, while allowing the plea of the Bihar government challenging the October 31, 2017 high court order, had also declined to treat contractual teachers at par with regular teachers. The apex court had said the Bihar government was justified in having two different streams or cadres for teachers and there has been no violation of the rights of 'Niyojit' (contractual) teachers nor has there been any discrimination against them.
The SC, however, raised concern over the emoluments made available to ‘Niyojit’ teachers at the initial stage and suggested that the state government may consider raising the scales of such teachers at least to the level suggested by the three-member committee.
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