Government school teachers in the state have not received their salaries for the past few months. The last salary they drew was in September for the month of August.
Despite several requests, the teachers have not been paid their salaries.
Some teachers told DH that they even had to take loans to run their families and a few are struggling to manage their expenses since they are already burdened with home and other loans.
Office bearers of Karnataka Primary School Teachers’ Association said, “Salaries of teachers for all 204 educational blocks have not been released.”
Basavaraj Gurikar, president of the association said, “We depend on monthly salaries. It has become difficult for a majority of teachers to support their families. Hope the department fixes the problem soon.”
Arun Shahapur, member of the Legislative Council said, “Many teachers approached me with the issue. When we checked with the department, officials said that the delay is due to the switching process from Khajane 1 to Khajane 2 system for disbursal of salary funds. Whatever is the technical issue, the department must release salaries for teachers on time.”
“This problem was common for teachers hired under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan schemes, but for the last few months, even teachers hired directly by the department are suffering without pay,” said Shahapur.
However, officials from the department of public instruction said that delay was due to the pending approval for release of salary funds. “The estimation of salaries sent from districts needs to get a vote on account three months before. Due to several technical issues, including wrong estimation sent from districts the process was delayed,” said a senior official of the department.
S R Umashankar principal secretary primary and secondary education department, “We are having a video conference with all the deputy directors on Saturday to gather information on delay in salaries. After that, we will initiate appropriate action.”