1500 employees of education department to celebrate ‘black Diwali’

Chandigarh, 14 October(Wishav Warta): 1500 employees of the Chandigarh Education Department will celebrate “Black Diwali” this year. These employees will do this because they have not been given salaries by the department from past several months. These employees include teachers to fourth class employees, who are paying different duties at the schools. Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA), 829 teachers are providing services in government schools. Due to non-release of the grant by the center, the teachers have not been paid salaries from August to October. In April, after the contract was renewed, only 15 days’ wages were paid. The number of these teachers is 200. Apart from this, there is about 100 clerks who have not been paid salaries for two months. On the other hand, the teachers who are regular teachers are being given an inflationary allowance of 3 percent on Diwali. There is a lot of displeasure in the teachers union due to non-payment of salaries. On the other hand, the department says that they will get salaries soon.