ROURKELA: Strange it may sound but salaries of 826 primary teachers of Rourkela and Bisra in the tribal-dominated Sundargarh district have been held up reportedly due to shifting of the local block education office.
While salary disbursement is a routine process, block education officer (BEO) Pragya Paramita Jena is linking the delay to shifting of her office from Rourkela to Bisra block.
Sources in the School and Mass Education (SME) department informed that 16 block education offices in Sundargarh are located at the respective headquarters. But Bisra and the Steel City had a common BEO who was operating from Rourkela. On public demand, the SME department on December 22 last year ordered to shift Bisra BEO to the BRCC office building in the block headquarters. However, the BEO complied with the order on December 28.
When asked about the delay in salary disbursement, BEO Jena said the BRCC office building requires infrastructure improvement and changes in layout with fresh estimate. “I had requested the government to allow time but was forced to shift. The office is not fully ready while many files and furniture are left behind at Rourkela. I am trying my best but cannot say by when I would be able to release the salaries for the month of December,” she added.
Sundargarh district education officer AK Pradhan said salary disbursement is routine work and the delay is unacceptable. Fresh instruction has been issued to the BEO to release the salary at the earliest.
Reliable sources in the BEO’s office said a few days back, the clerk concerned had generated the salary bill, but Jena has kept it with her.
Sundargarh district general secretary of All Utkal Primary Teachers’ Federation Sanjay Samal said teachers have no alternative sources of earning and without the salary of December, they are facing financial hardships. “Defying the government order, the Bisra BEO is trying to make the teachers feel that they are at her mercy. I urge the government to take a serious note of this behaviour,” he added.
In an order on September 24 2019, the Finance department clearly stated that disbursement of salary and pension should be done on the last working day of a month. Besides, a single page salary bill generated in the revised format of the HRMS, Odisha should be used for the purpose.