Sidhu should not use us for personal political gains: Delhi teachers’ body
NEW DELHI: The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government has increased the salary of guest teachers employed on contract to Rs 35,000 per month, said the Delhi Guest Teachers’ Association on Wednesday, December 22, 2021. “Earlier, the maximum salary ranged from Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000,” said Anjana Rathi, a member of the association.
She added that the state government had in 2017 passed a Bill in the Assembly to make guest teachers
permanent, but it is still awaiting the Lieutenant Governor’s approval. Claiming that recent teachers’ protests in the national capital were being organised by those who are only interested in politics, Rathi accused politicians from Punjab, such as Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, of flocking to Delhi even as contractual teachers in their own state are on the verge of committing suicide. “It’s clear that politicisation has begun,” she said.
Another member of the association, Pooja Jha, said Sidhu should not use teachers in his political campaign. “After 2016, when our appointment was renewed, things got smoother. But there were other problems. Our salaries at the time were very low. We initiated talks on this issue and our salaries were nearly doubled within three months,” Jha added.
She also pointed out that guest teachers started getting maternity leave only after Aam Aadmi Party came to power in Delhi. “We then raised the issue that maternity leave alone isn’t sufficient, so they granted us the provision of paid maternity leaves. Just like any government teacher, we too get paid maternity leaves now, and can also shift the starting and ending dates for the leave according to our convenience,” she said.
On how guest teachers are treated, she said, “Earlier when we would go to school, we felt we weren’t respected. We were made to feel as if we didn’t know enough even though our qualifications were the same as that of other teachers.”