Nagpur News: The Balwadi teachers had staged an agitation to press their long pending demands for a hike in salaries and regularization of their jobs on July 21, 2014. The Balwadi teachers alleged that this injustice has been continuously meted out to them.
Nagpur Today spoke to some Balwadi teachers who on conditions of anonymity said that currently, they are paid a salary of Rs 1,500 per month, while the non-trained teaching staff gets Rs 1,000. After a series of agitations which spanned last three years, various civic and general bodies made a recommendation that a salary of Rs 2,200 for teachers and Rs 1,800 for non-trained teachers for the first five years of service and then a regular pay scale, with the basic salary ranging from Rs 805 to Rs 1664 was made. Some of the teachers alleged that many Balwadi teachers have completed five years, and are entitled to Rs 5,000 per month, however, they are not paid even this hike in Salary.
During the last Winter Session held in Nagpur, when these Balwadi teachers had demanded to see the Chief Minister and had sat down at the Morris College T-Point on Temple Bazaar Road till late in the night, the Maharashtra Minister of state for School Education Fauzia Khan had arrived there and had assured to redress their grievances soon. Nearly eight months has lapsed and yet no pro-active steps have been taken.
The teachers had come from all over Nagpur district and were sitting with Umbrellas on the road dividers. It was disheartening to see these teachers who play the role of in-locus-parentis (Latin for “in the place of a parent) to many children in rural and slum areas and try to impart knowledge being denied decent wages.
