I am writing this letter in response to recent SAC decision regarding absorption of ReT’s on the existing posts in state education department. As we know all, education is a tool through which the society can be illuminated with glory of success and development. Through education, nations leap to traverse the adversities of life and of living standard. Any nation can be freed from the oppression of oppressors so that the state subjects can live a dignified life only through the mighty power of pen & paper. The standard of living can be changed, rather upgraded through interventions in educating the youngest lot of society and by contributing in research & development that is only possible as we keep lighting the lamp of education in the state. If nation builders come up with new reforms in educating the people of their states and by delimiting the possible contraventions that limit the outreach of education to each and every section of society irrespective of their socio-political or religious affiliations, then all round development is an obvious one. Each and every other nation invest lot of time, money and human power to develop manpowerthat can contribute to growing demands of rising global burden of innumerable anthropogenic & natural calamities and to be in developmental consensus with other nations in queue of excellence through intervention in education & development. A strong human power equipped with true rationale of real education and techniques of curbing the technical transgressions can be future torch bearers and can onlybuild a strong partnership of educating others and chartering others to be educated. This way the nations prosper in terms of development, in terms of refined outcomes to calibrate the defunct systemof services dissemination and general administration.
In contrary to this all, the education department in state of Jammu & Kashmir is following the policy of deceit and demonization. They do everything possible to shut off the mouth of educated lot of state, to curb their freedom of expressing their inner voice, to serve the society in best of their capacities and to contribute in the biggest possible way through reformation in education and technology. They have let no stone unturned to de-capitalize their potential through their dubious policies of deceit. The policy makers at the helm of affairs in wake of skepticism from upper polarities come up with anti-youth and counter-employment policies to appease their peers. The one of recent SAC decision under your chairmanship regarding adjustment of ReT teacher’s on existing posts in state education department and by creating some 29000+ supernumerary posts to get them all absorbed who were appointed out of nothing and notwithstanding the futuristic scenario of state, they were made to decide it in their favor by cutting the throat of unemployed yet educated lot of society. This regular adjustment of some 41000 ReT’s will certainly extinguish the thirst of youth to achieve bigger and bright in life and in turn deliver best to the society at large. This will not only impact the rising positive trend of education in state but will also impact the already burning issue of rising unemployment in state. If this order is not revoked or something better not comes up for the rescue of youngsters who are waiting to get instated in jobs after their rigorous passage through this journey over thornsamid sobs and tears already let by the Kashmir dispute itself, they will turn for worst to express their inner resentment and culminate in negative response and rebelism for the agony of state. Over the years, School education department has been facing immense difficulties due to multiple cadres of teachers, requirement of additional funds to meet out salary of both SSA and RMSA teaching faculty and a host of other related issues, which were directly or indirectly impacting upon the quality of education in Government run schools and leading to avoidable chaos and confusion among the teaching fraternity. After much deliberations with the administrative candidates to shun away this biasness and to reach out to every person &problem faced by the teaching fraternity. An action plan was envisaged by the SAC committee and recommended formal merger of 526 posts of headmasters and 3132 posts of subject specific masters created under RMSA with headmasters and masters in the School education department, conversion/up-gradation of existing 4522 direct quota vacant non-teaching posts in different categories as Teachers, creation of 28,363 supernumerary posts of teachers with the stipulation that these supernumerary posts shall subsist till completion of appointment/transition of eligible RReTsas regular teachers, and thereafter shall cease to exist on the adjustment if these supernumerary posts against normally arising vacancies. Also the School education department has been authorized as a onetime exception to fill certain vacant posts of lecturers by promotion of eligible PG Teachers/Masters in the relevant disciplines to enable utilization of the resultant vacancies of teachers for appointment/transition of RReTs as Teachers. This initiative though thought of being taken in the larger interest of the teaching community and purely as a welfare measure without measuring it’s contra-indications. The School education department has also been granted one-time exemption for making regularization/confirmation/ promotion of the officers (backlog and fresh) in respect of each gazetted category without referring the cases to the JKPSC/DPC. It also sought thatthe School education department will encourage such RReTs as do not possess the requisite qualification to acquire the same within a specific timeframe so as to up-scale them as regular teachers.
Though this landmark decision is envisaged to enable streamlining the cadre of RReTs by transitioning them in the regular cadre of teachers and meeting the salary deficit of SSA and RMSA teachers, which is over Rs 1400 crore’s per annum out of the state budget. But can any official who is privy to this fact respond appropriately, that till these all RReTs are regularized on these posts, what will be the amount of potential candidates who will turn over-aged in wake of their non-adjustment in the education department and who have been eying the same from past 10-15 years, only to get every degree attained by them to be deceived & disappointed for none of their faults. We every time speak of youth rebellion against state authorities, does not this situation will exhume the youth to turn agonists. When they are not paid peanuts even for being qualified to highest level, how can authorities expect out of their foolishness, return of saffron baggage. This decision will seriously have contraindications in the time to come being totally anti-social, anti-youth and above all anti-humanistic policy to cut the throat of one and to fill the empty sanguivorous bins of others. No one is opposite to adjust the ReT’s who though were appointed out of non-existent vacancies in the past only to get the whole share of deserving lot of educated yet unemployed youth of state. They being now in a state of no return and never to be disappointed for none of their faults, could be re-instated out of state budget that isto be creviced separately and out of the existing budget kept for education related policies & development. If state establishment is serious enough to streamline the potential of youth and tap it for better & best of state and state subjects, it is high time that this controversial SAC decision is revoked with immediate effect and in suppression of this policy, new interventional and out of box strategy is put forth to absorb the controversial lot of ReTs.
We hope Governor administration will look at it from close end to not further exhume the situation for worst to all.
Sheikh Umar Ahmad is freelance journalist & DST INSPIRE FELLOW, currently pursuing PhD in Biotechnologyfrom CSIR – Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Jammu.
