SC to Hold Final Hearing on Bihar Contractual Teachers’ Pay Issue on July 12

The final hearing by the Supreme Court regarding the salary issue of nearly 3.7 lakh contractual teachers will be held on July 12. Reportedly, the Centre has asked for more time with regard to the “saman kaam saman vetan” issue. The Centre has said that it needs to take a look at how much it can help the teachers financially in Bihar. Adding to the above statement, it also said that it needs to look into the demands made by the teachers in Bihar and compare it with the condition of teachers in other states so that it does not end up taking a biased decision. The government also said that in order to make an unbiased move it is imperative to look into all angles.

It must be noted that in the last hearing, the Supreme Court had directed both the Centre and the Bihar State government to come together and decide mutually regarding the salary of these contractual teachers upon the directive issued by Patna High Court. Bihar government later challenged Patna High Court’s order on the same issue but the latter issued an order stating the state government must follow the saman kaam saman vetan and pay the teacher’s salary accordingly.

Presently, the salary of contractual teachers teaching from Class I to VIII is between Rs. 14,000- Rs. 19,000. The teachers who are paid in the grade, both include trained and non-trained ones. For the unversed, once the “saman kaam saman vetan” rule is applied, the salary of these teachers will increase upto Rs. 40,000.

The trend of contractual teachers started way back in the year 2003 under Rabri Devi’s rule. Back then, the salary for contractual teachers was a meagre sum- Rs. 1500 only. But in 2006, when Nitish Kumar came to power their salary was increased to Rs. 5000 and Rs. 4000- for trained and untrained respectively. Since the, the number of contractual teachers have been increasing.

Courtesy: India.com