Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to the regularisation of the services of 8886 teachers recruited under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), as well Adarsh and Model Schools.
Approving the Cabinet Sub-committee’s recommendations in this regard, the Cabinet decided to regularize 7356 teachers recruited under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, 1194 under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, along with 220 for model schools and 116 for Adarsh schools.
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Disclosing this here today, an official spokesperson said that though the Committee had recommended that services of all the teachers/employees be regularized by absorbing them by creating these posts in the School Education Department, subject to the condition that they would be paid Rs. 10,300/- per month (initial of the regular pay scale) for three years, the cabinet decided to pay them Rs 15,000/-. On successful completion of three years, their services would be regularized by the department, strictly as per rules.
The Committee also recommended that seniority of these teachers be determined from the date of regularization of their service. A period of 15 days would be given to all such teachers/employees to give their option. Inter se seniority would be maintained of all those teachers/employees by the Department.
In the case of those who give options after 15 days, seniority would be fixed based on the date when such option(s) are received. No fresh recruitment of teachers would be made unless a complete rationalization of posts in the Department is carried out as per norms. An option may also be given to the teachers/employees in all the above Societies to get their services regularized by getting absorbed in the Department or continue to work in their respective societies. In case of the latter option, they will continue to draw their current salary.
The Cabinet also decided that all future recruitments will be made in Government of India pay scale.
The Sub-Committee, constituted on the directives of Chief Minister, comprised Education Minister OP Soni, Rural Development & Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
It may be recalled that the State Government, under the SSA and RMSA programme, has been recruiting teachers from time to time to meet the teacher student ratio. Both the programmes are being run under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes funded by Government of India and State Government in the ratio of 60:40. As many as 7356 teachers have been recruited under the SSA programme (1078 ETT and 6278 Master Cadre). Similarly, 1194 teachers including Head Masters have been recruited under RMSA.
The SSA caters to schools from classes 1 to 8 and RMSA for classes 9 to 12. To avail the benefit of Centrally Sponsored Schemes, the State Government under both the programmes has been recruiting teachers by following a transparent procedure. At present, these teachers have been working in various schools, mostly upgraded under the SSA and RMSA.