G. Mailappa, a teacher in Government Higher Primary School, Kutrupadavu, is happy to get his salary for the month of June credited in his account on June 30th evening.
In the last 16 years of his service, Mr. Mailappa has not received salary so early. He had been receiving it only after 10th of the following month.
Mr. Mailappa is among the 800-odd primary teachers from the Puttur education block, who used to wait for weeks every month for salary. They are now benefiting from a new initiative taken up by Education Department, according to Puttur Block Education Officer G.S. Shashidhara who played a role in it.
For long, the Dakshina Kannada Primary School Teachers Association had been demanding payment of salaries within the first week of the month as directed by the State government.
While teachers who had their accounts in the branches of State Bank of Mysore — the nodal bank of the State government — were receiving salary by seventh of every month, those having accounts in other braches were getting salary around 20th.
“We had been asking the Block Education Officers to expedite this process to ensure early payment,” said Puttur Taluk Primary School Teaches Association president M. Mamachan.
In a meeting with officials from the State Bank of Mysore, Mr. Shashidara was told that the delay in crediting salary could be removed if teachers opened accounts with SBM. Mr. Shashidara said he and members of the teachers’ association worked to convince teachers open their accounts in SBM’s braches in Narimogaru, Puttur and Kadaba.
Personnel at the office of the BEO submitted details of salary to be released by June 25 to the district treasury, who released the salary cheque amounting to around Rs. 2.92 crore by the evening of June 30.
The SBM personnel ensured credit of salary to accounts of teachers a few hours later.
