We haven't been paid salaries since April: Special schools staff

There are 57 special schools in the city. Representation pic

The staffers at special schools in Mumbai have been finding it difficult to make ends meet, as they haven't received their salaries since April due to a delay in distribution of grants from the Social Welfare Department of the Government of Maharashtra. Several requests to the department regarding disbursement of grants have fallen on deaf ears, said one of the teachers, on condition of anonymity.

At present, there are a total of 52 schools in the city and suburbs for special children. These schools pay salaries to the staff members from the grant they receive from the state government. However, with the grant being delayed due to the lockdown, many of the teachers are now without salaries for nearly four months.

MLC Kapil Patil

"We come under the Social Justice Department, and the financial help that we get is deemed as grant-in-aid. Because of the lockdown, officials haven't been able to complete the paperwork for the aid, due to which there has been a delay. But this is our bread and butter. It's high time that the department pays attention to our issues," said one of the teachers from a school in South Mumbai.

Incidentally, while special schools in the city received their last grant in April, those in the suburbs haven't got theirs after March. There are around 1,000 employees in total across these schools, including teaching and non-teaching staff.

Teachers have approached the authorities through Shikshak Bharati, a teachers' union, to resolve the issue. "But, we are yet to hear from them. Despite that, we have continued our regular support to children at home with online learning, phone consultations, etc.

These children need special training from us and hence, we need to stay in touch with them at least once a week. But, if this situation continues, we will not be able to continue our activities," shared another distressed teacher.

When contacted, Samadhan Ingle, assistant commissioner, Social Justice Department, said, "Such a situation has never occurred in our department before. There is a technical issue and we are trying to resolve it as soon as possible with help from the Ministry."

MLC Kapil Patil, who has written to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment regarding the delay in the salary of teachers, said, "This is completely the department's fault. We understand the pandemic is an unprecedented situation, but such important work shouldn't have been affected. It will only add to the teachers' woes." Patil has also approached Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde regarding the issue.

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