AGARTALA: The BJP-led Tripura government to give a lump-sum financial aid of Rs 35,000 to 8,882 government school teachers, who lost their jobs from Wednesday following court verdicts, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb announced.
These 8,882 school teachers are part of the 10,323 government teachers, lost their jobs due to the Supreme Court and High Court orders citing ‘discrepancies in recruitment’.
In a locally televised address to the people, the Chief Minister said despite the state government’s financial constrain and government’s hectic activity to deal with various aspects of novel coronavirus and ongoing lock down, the state cabinet on Wednesday decided to give a lump-sum one-time financial assistance of Rs 35,000 to 8,882 government school teachers.
He said that till March 31, these 8,882 teachers are getting Rs 14,078 Rs 28,995 and Rs 35,594 per month considering their ranks and position.
Later, Education and Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath told IANS that to give the Rs 35,000 to 8,882 government school teachers the state government had to incur Rs 32 crore from its exchequer.
Amidst massive agitations by these government teachers to keep their jobs, the state government recently announced to absorb the teachers in various state government departments.
Education Minister Nath said that the residual numbers of teaching personnel of 8,882 among the 10,323 Tripura government teachers would be absorbed in various departments against the vacant posts of 10,618.
“Before appointing the 8,882 teachers in non-teaching jobs of other departments, the state government has sought the permission of the Supreme Court as the apex court earlier cancelled their jobs,” he said.
Nath said the issue of the government teachers’ jobs was discussed in the cabinet on humanitarian grounds and considered the livelihood of 50,000 people, including the family members of these teachers facing termination of jobs.
“The previous Left Front government did not follow the first ordersof the High Court in 2011 causing the termination of thousands of government teachers,” the minister claimed.
Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar told the media that after the Tripura High Court and Supreme Court had terminated the jobs of the 10,323 government teachers in 2011, 2014 and 2017 respectively, the then Left Front government had created 13,000 posts to accommodate these teachers.
IANS