BENGALURU: Thursday was not a happy Teachers’ Day for over 12,000 of them who work at various government schools across the state, as they have not received salaries for the last six months.
The teachers have repeatedly pleaded with local- as well as state-level officers for their money, but the officials have been shirking the responsibility by blaming the finance department for the delay, which in turn has been passing the buck onto the Union Ministry for Human Resource Development.
As per details available from the teachers, of the 25,000 teachers appointed under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), over 12,000 working in 14 taluks including Beltangadi, Madhugiri, Gadag and Bantwal have not got their salaries.
“When we approached local block education officers and deputy directors, they said some technical issues at the state level was the cause for the delay. But when we approached state-level officers, they said they had not received funds from the MHRD to pay us,” a teacher told Express.
When the issue was brought to the notice of RMSA officials, they blamed Khajane-2 software, which monitors Human Resource Management System (HRMS) for the “glitch”. It is said that code numbers of the 12,000-odd teachers were wrongly uploaded, which has caused a “technical error” in distribution of salaries.
“These 25,000 teachers were recruited under RMSA, so their salaries are being paid from funds released by the MHRD. To pay salaries for these teachers, there is a system called HRMS in which code numbers have been given to each teacher, against which salaries are credited. This code number is wrongly used at Khajane-2 causing a technical error,” said an official from the department of public instructions who handles RMSA.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has taken note of this. While addressing the event organised by the state higher education department on the occasion of Teachers’ Day on Wednesday, he said, “I am told that salaries have not paid to over 12,000 teachers. Upon enquiring with officials, they said it was because the Centre had stopped the relevant funds. I have instructed officials of Finance and Education departments to address the issue immediately.” The CM went on to add that there was no shortage of finances in the state. “We have enough funds in the treasury. The government is not stopping the funding of any of the ongoing projects,” he added.