Primary and high school teachers appointed after 2008 have been asked to repay the special allowance given to them. This amount will be deducted from their November salaries.
This has been done by the Department of Public Instruction based on the objections raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The CAG has called the drawing and disbursing of special allowance to teachers and lecturers appointed after August 1, 2008 “inadmissible”.
The department now plans to recover ₹127 lakh from 1,557 primary school teachers and ₹512 lakh from 3,789 high school teachers. A circular issued by the Commissioner of Public Instruction directs officials to withhold salaries if the teachers fail to repay the amount owed. It also states that the special allowance for these teachers would be stopped from November.
Something similar was done to degree college lecturers recently, with the Department of Collegiate Education asking them to repay the dearness allowance paid to them. This order was, however, put on hold.
The move has been criticised by teachers and academic experts. Basavaraj Gurikar, president of the State Government Primary School Teachers’ Association, said they would appeal to the department to revoke the order. “Many teachers will not get any salary for November, if this happens,” he said.
V.P. Niranjan Aradhya, fellow, Centre for Child and the Law, National Law School of India University, said it was not fair to deduct arrears since it may bring down the morale of young teachers. He also said officials who erred in this regard need to be punished.
