People's Democracy

Navodaya Teachers Demand Grievance Redressal

THROUGH a memorandum recently submitted to the prime minister, the All India Navodaya Vidyalaya Staff Association (AINVSA) has drawn his attention to certain anomalies in the allowances and leaves due to the Navodaya Vidyalaya teachers and non-teaching staff all over the country.

The AINVSA has sent the copies of its memorandum to the secretary of the government of India’s Department of School Education & Literacy and to the New Delhi based commissioner of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti.

The AINVSA memorandum points out that the Department of Personnel & Training had, through an office memorandum (OM) issued on November 11, 2008, restored the facility of 20 days’ half-pay leave to the teachers, principals, headmasters, librarians, laboratory assistants and watermen working in these schools with effect from September 1, 2008. In this regard, the said OM superseded the Office Memorandum dated September 3, 1981 (regarding leave) and the notification dated July 28, 1984. However, as a consequence, the recent OM withdraws with effect from September 1, 2008 the facility of 10 days’ full-pay earned leave provided to the teachers vide the earlier notifications.

The AINVSA memorandum, submitted to the prime minister by its president Jagdish Rai and general secretary L B Reddy, pointed out that prior to September 1, 1981, these affected categories were entitled to 20 days half-pay leave in a year. But they were facing many hardships while availing this leave; for example, they had to produce a medical certificate each time they wanted to avail this leave on full pay. Also, it was not possible to attend to studies, examination and going on outstation tours etc on full pay. They, therefore, demanded earned leave like that available to college and university teachers. However, instead of granting the facility of earned leave in addition to half-pay leave, the central government, after the personal intervention of former prime minister Mrs Indira Gandhi, converted the 20 days of half-pay leave to 10 days of earned leave on full pay with effect from September 1, 1981, as a special case.

The NV teachers are thus deeply anguished over the loss of 10 days earned leave, a facility gained after much deliberations, agitation and only after the personal intervention of late Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1981. The present government has undone the beneficial decision of Mrs Gandhi’s government, while implementing the recommendation of the sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC). The AINVSA memorandum clearly pointed out that the teachers’ demand was for the restoration of half-pay leave on the analogy of university and college teachers in addition to earned leave, and not at the cost of earned leave.

It is also notable that the sixth Central Pay Commission has nowhere recommended a conversion of earned leave into half-pay leave. It is therefore unfortunate and arbitrary that while implementing the recommendation of the sixth CPC, the Department of Personnel & Training did not examine the issue in its right perspective. On the contrary, the department drew its own conclusions and acted in a manner which is against the true spirit behind the recommendation.

Since the department is now in the process of amending the CCS (Leave) Rules 1972, the teachers’ demand is that it must withdraw the OM dated November 11, 2008 and also desist from abolishing the earned leave by amending the CCS (Leave) Rules. It is in this matter that the AINVSA has sought the prime minister’s intervention to get the wrong remedied.