The Tamil Nadu ‘B’ Wing Teachers and Officers Association has urged the State government to fix revised pay and pensions for over 400 pensioners, who retired from service nearly 20 years ago.
The members of the association have waged several legal battles and waited for nearly two decades to get promotions and increments due to them.
“We are all in the age group of 79-85 years and some persons have even died while waiting this,” said the association’s general secretary, N. V. Naganathan.
According to a press release from the association many of these teachers had been recruited as B.T. assistants in erstwhile district board schools and were later absorbed as full-fledged government staff with effect from April 1, 1970. They were called ‘B’ wing employees. Staff members of regular government schools were called ‘A’ wing employees.
Retired ‘B’ wing employees say that they were denied promotions over the course of their career despite contributing as much as ‘A’ wing employees did.
“In 2012 a revised list of notional promotions to the post of chief educational officer was ordered for 489 retired ‘B’ wing employees by giving them pension benefits only. However, the government is yet to re-fix the pay and send pension proposals to the finance department. Only once this is done will we get what is due to us,” said Mr. Naganathan.
Promotions granted notionally are those that are due during service but delayed due to various reasons and received only after retirement. They come with upgraded pay slabs.
The press release also said that a combined seniority list for promotions was to be drawn up by the school education department using April 1, 1970 as base date. But it took over three decades and a series of litigations for the government to publish this list in 2004. However, the list only favoured those in the ‘A’ wing category.
Many ‘B’ wing seniors retired as school headmasters while others were given posts such as district educational officers and chief educational officers, but the list did not take their contributions into account, the release said.
