Teachers’ associations said, so long as anomalies in the pay structure of teachers persisted, there was no question of recalling the strike.
With over 3.5 lakh contract teachers on strike in the state since February 17 — which has stalled teaching and midday meals at over 45,000 schools — the government on Wednesday showed the first signs of budging with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi indicating a pay hike for teachers.
Teachers’ associations however, said so long as anomalies in the pay structure of teachers persisted, there was no question of recalling the strike.
“Even though pay parity cannot be given, we will try to give a respectable salary hike to teachers. After the Supreme Court ruling, the pay parity demand is a non-issue. We are implementing the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, also applicable for madarsa teachers,” said the deputy CM.
The state government had earmarked a Rs 35,000 crore budget for education, he added.
Primary, middle and secondary school teachers’ associations, however, have stuck to their demand of pay parity and have warned that they will not assist the state government in the proposed NPR updation exercise, scheduled to start in May. The protesting teachers could not be hired by the government for invigilation and examination duties for the class X board examinations last month.
Bihar Secondary School Teachers Association general secretary Shatrughan Prasad Singh told The Indian Express: “The deputy CM has misled people. In the first place, Seventh Pay Commission recommendations are not yet implemented. There are several anomalies such as juniors being made seniors. We are also not going to accept a 20 per cent increase in salary, as recommended by a committee formed by Supreme Court. We need the government to settle all issues. We had met government representatives several times in past six months without any progress.”
Over 40,000 higher secondary school teachers have joined the strike so far.
The attendance in most of the state’s 75,000 schools is down by 70-80 per cent. Overall, 600 teachers have been booked for disrupting government functioning since the strike.