India for the sake of securing Seat in Security council was asked by United Nations to produce literacy rate of the country and on observation the literacy rate of the country was much much below the expected scale that is 100% and it is the qualifying rate for all the nations who apply for the seat of security council. Meanwhile the think tanks of the country which include politicians, economists, bureaucrats and other scholars and intellectuals from different walks of life joined heads together to find a solution as to how to achieve the required literacy rate which is one of the criteria to secure the said seat. Think tanks of the country proposed some solutions and forwarded the report to the Concerned authorities .MHRD in the Central secretariat was directed to draw a draft proposal and providing space to public opinion so that policy becomes fool proof and avoids criticism and the policy was prepared presented in parliament after it met the cabinet nod and when policy was passed in the shape of bill it became a law and appropriation act was also passed to withdraw money from public purse and incur expenditure to meet out the action part of policy.
Draft plan was now to be executed and central government came up with a Scheme called as “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” translated in Urdu as ”Sab padein aur Sab Badein ”,it was one of the flagship schemes announced by government Of india(GOI) to be launched in all the states of India and different states executed the scheme under different names .In state of J&k it was introduced under the name and brand of SSA and the teachers engaged under this scheme were called as Rahbar-e-Taleem (ReT )and the Schools were categorized as SSA schools
Upgraded Primary schools another category which came into existence was now called as Hanging schools and these schools were prior to this nomenclature called as Central schools these schools were upgraded before SSA scheme launched by states up-to 6th standard and another category of these engaged teachers were branded as 3rd RETs then there was one more Catagorey called as normal RETs .The worst sufferers among all categories of teachers engaged under the scheme are Called SSA teacher and are 40000 in number It was the year of 2001 AD and ruling party was National conference with full mandate not fractured mandate,when this scheme was given accent by the state legislature and was executed with some amendments One of the amendments was that the teachers will be engaged on monthly dues of 1500 and after two years 500 Will be hiked, while as teachers appointed under this scheme in other states of India was provided basic pay of the teacher .
The politicians held darbars, seminars and conferences for distribution of fake appointment orders which were not orders in real sense but orders Of enslavement by which the educated youth who were pursuing higher studies, doing research in top universities of the country left the studies in mid way and preferred to join as RET which was abbreviated in circles of these teachers as “Rath Taanei” ,further these teachers were forced to work on contractual basis for 5 years, I call it Rigorous imprisonment as these teachers were not allowed to pursue further studies and excel in the subjects of specialisation, and what was result of such a scheme this educated folk became traumatised and got trapped in the vicious circle as a fish gets trapped in a net and never comes out of such a cunning trick of fisherman, how much a fish will be big.
Now these teachers opened schools on the hill tops and even Beared to pass through rugged terrain by playing with Dangers ,one such example is of a teacher who was killed by bullet of Indian Army while safeguarding the honour and dignity of her sister colleagues namely Abdul Rasheed from kralpora where I visited along with Director School education Mr Rafi Sb of the time . Politicians earned Vote bank and MLA issued letters to the officers concerned to open schools even if there was no feasibility. Some officers and few in ministerial staff of education Department earned lot and looted these educated youth ,not all officers but a few holding chairs became beneficiaries of this scheme ,some were challened by the crime branch and state vigilance organisation and some were tried in the Legislature. “Corruption thrives at secret place and avoids public places ”,Series of litigation and Petitions were filled in the court of law against authorities for acting arbitrarily and violating the CSR in broad day light .The offices became hub of corruption because there was not application of checks and balances, wider powers were given to field officers and state secretariat was acting as mute spectator .
Teachers engaged were the only sufferers as they were seen as forced labourers like those who were taken to Gilgit during the reign of Dogra rule and forced to work. These teachers who were divided under different brands, Clans to prevent unity has to work without wages months, years together and were always ignored on the garb of lack of Allotment ,centre is yet to release share, state is yet to release share, North eastern stares and j&k ate the only exceptions to whom share was provided under 90:10 rule 90 %was provided by centre while 10% was to be provided by state u special status Catagorey state as per the Finance commission recommendations of the time, rest of states was given 75:25 % share and this arrangement was not only in case of SSA but for all types of flagship schemes or for pilot projects.Even in presence of such arrangements for j&k state always failed to release on time it’s share and teachers were suffering .The families of teachers suffered as they earned to live a dignified life but in vain as the condition of their families worsened day by day hence depression and trauma is the end product of such a state policy.
State of J&K claims to be welfare oriented as like other states and always claim that their policies are citizen and youth oriented when this claim is analysed at grass root level, we observe violation of Human Rights, violation of minimum wages act and Violation of ethical administration .Ethics has now no leave in state administration as the bureaucrat, officer holding the charge or chair considers it his sole discretion and right, in what manner he will use it and violated democratic principles in toto.
During the coalition government rule of BJP-PDP led by Mehbooba Mufti teachers became worst sufferers and the authorities crossed all the limits by converting the teacher into virtual beggars .The term of the said coalition government witnessed on daily basis hartals, protests, Dharnas, chalo calls by Teachers joint Action Committee (TJAC) led by Mr Abdul Qayoom Wani who is serving as Chairman Jammu Kashmir Teachers forum as well president Employees joint action committee (EJAC) .when government was seen playing with sentiments of teachers by not extending 7th pay commission recommendations to 40000 teachers branded as SSA teachers who have already received benefits of 6th pay commission recommendations and which included Masters, RMSA masters as well.Mr.wani gave government enough time to come up with one time solution of this grave issue and human problem, but in vain, ultimately He came up with a plan of action by discussing the issue with his Apex leadership of TJAC which include Gazi Abdul Aziz, Shah Fayaz,Abdul Qayoom Sanayi and the leadership fixed Direct Action Day by announcing Chain hunger strike and tent was installed at pratap park Srinagar, the hunger strike continued for 24 days and the conditions of teachers worsened, who were admitted on regular basis forcibly.
Governor rule was prevalent in the valley when hunger strike was going on at pratap park and Khursheed Ganai Advisor to Governor reached pratap park on 24th day and requested the teachers to break the fast by extending bottles of juice, and promised on spot that with September salary all the teachers will be covered under 7th pay commission, that day has passed teachers are yet waiting for the benefits of 7th pay commission and even their salaries 5 to 6 months stand witheld up to this day and 40000 families are on verge of starvation who hardly have anything to eat, wear or to cure parents even during this cold wave called as “Chalai kalan ”which is in full swing in the valley .
Governor’s administration must look on priority basis to release the salaries of SSA teachers and clear pending liabilities ,not releasing one month and keeping five months liability It hampers the process of development and even the banking sector which is providing assistance to these teachers in the shape of housing loan, PCL, Cash credit, and vice versa they lend their assets to the customer and these assets which they lend in different shapes are actually Time deposits and term deposits of public Who receive interest on these deposits regularly from these scheduled banks and commercial banks and it was earlier rule of bank that after 90 days the assets if not giving returns back to bank it became Non performing Asset (NPS) and in this manner the bank may turn bankrupt and hence bank faces hardships to recover the asset and meanwhile it has worst impact on Gross Domestic product Of state (GDP) and hence the growth may become all time low if situation remains aggravating and hence we can’t call it inclusive development it is vicious circle of poverty as other sectors also suffer .Thus spiral effect traps every one known as
debt trap and the policies of the government also become ultra vires to welfare meaning of state .Welfare state is meant for all-round development of the state and welfare state is not profit oriented rather it is welfare oriented and is heart and soul of popular governments.
If policies of j&k government are seen in the welfare context we come to the conclusion that Poor is becoming poor and rich is becoming richer. Big fishes swallow smaller fishes and it was described as anarchist state not welfare state by Kautiliya. We need to adopt welfare state in real sense and not compromise on these things. Our motto must be to oppose anarchist elements in the state and advocate democratic principles where every one is given right to act, think, work and earn freely .
Education sector needs proper attention and this sector must be priority sector for the popular government as well military state or police state because no state could prosper if proper attention is not given to education sector .There is a quote that if you want to make any enemy nation slave then attack the education sector of that nation They will automatically become slaves as the power of thinking will vanish from them in no time. Education sector of state needs proper attention and lions share must be kept aside during budget preparations for education sector and in this new world order we need to change the choices and should prioritize education sector not defense sector .I am having a suggestion for central govt as now a days here president rule is prevalent and our budget and all policies will be okayed by central cabinet at least for the state of j&k prioritize this year education sector and the concerned govt which may come to power in future must change priority sector on yearly basis for universal and all-round development of state in every sector. So the focus of government must be developmental sector rather than non developmental sector, under developmental sector comes all sectors except defense, police because the expenses incurred in non developmental sector didn’t give returns to state rather it consumes resources of the state and state may become bankrupt, in case grants in aid are refused and this is the main reason why most of the departments are not paid salaries in time. Further state needs to curb the expenditure on MLA’s ,MLC’s so that those expenses could be shifted to another sector and Upper house in a state has no job particularly in state of j&k ,if we overcome these things, and CAG should look into propriety audit. We need to separate the functions of CAG at sate level ,so as the efficiency may be achieved and transparency is felt in real sense.
Author is RTI activist cum research scholar and can be reached at khanaatif5050@gmail.com
