The librarians posted in nearly 70 village libraries in the district are struggling to meed ends with poor wages.
According to K. Anandan, a senior representative of the Village Librarians Association, they were being paid only ‘special scale’ wages, and there was no social security measures. Repeated pleas to authorities concerned for a pay revision remained unaddressed.
“The special scale of ₹ 2,500 – ₹ 5,000, with few perks and a grade pay of ₹ 500, entitles a village librarian to draw a net salary of only ₹7,000-odd to ₹9,000-odd depending on the number of years of service,” said A.K. Kalaiselvan, a village librarian at the Aandipalayam library.
They get a medical allowance of just ₹ 100 a month.
We don’t have a pension scheme too, said the librarians.
They librarians had now given representations to officials to take it up with the State Government.