Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29

What can thousands of Punjab Government employees do, if their employer itself is leading them to despair and penury? This is the question that employees in the Education and Rural Development Departments are asking, as they await their salaries for the past few months.

Forced to borrow money from relatives, take their daily needs goods on credit and even arrange money for those among them who are more desperate, these employees are now questioning if they are working in a “welfare state”.

With tears in her eyes, Mandeep Kaur, all of 20, lost her father Godavar Singh, a panchayat secretary posted in Sanaur, two months ago. “He died of stress because he had not got his salary since November 2017. My mother was unwell. She could not get proper treatment on time. Though we used whatever money we had saved for her treatment, around Rs 5 lakh, she succumbed to her ailment. My father was in shock and would just keep saying that he could not afford her treatment. Within 10 days of her death, my father passed away too,” she told The Tribune.

Now, both Mandeep Kaur and her younger brother Taranjit Singh left without support. Their grandfather Joginder Singh, who suffers from partial visual impairment, is taking care of them.

Baljit Singh, also a panchayat secretary is among the 1,400 employees of the Rural Development Department, who are working without pay since November last year. He said though all employees were contributing whatever little they could to help the family, there was no effort on part of the government to release Godavar Singh’s pending salary, or his other dues. “As a result, Mandeep has been forced to leave her nursing college due to non-payment of fee. The money we contributed by us or their relatives is only enough to make their ends meet,” he rued.

Ravinder Singh Gill, president, Panchayat Secretaries Union, said there were almost 900 employees who had not received salaries for past five months, while 500 employees had not received salaries for one year. “Our salaries are paid by the block samities, but there is a diversion of funds (the excise cess transferred by the Excise Department) in 41 of the 147 blocks. As a result, funds have dried up and salaries are not being released,” he said, adding that even the contributory provident fund of employees was not deposited. “Those retiring from service, too, are not getting their retirement benefits,” he said. In protest, these secretaries have been on a pen-down strike since April 28.

Such heart wrenching tales of people, waiting in despair for their salaries from the cash-strapped Punjab Government, are not uncommon or restricted to one department. There are almost 8,000 teachers under the Sarva Shikhsha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtrya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), who have not given salary since November.

In Hoshiarpur’s Hariana village, Pritpal Singh and his wife Amarjit Kaur, both teachers under SSA, have not received their salaries for five months. “My parents have medical needs and I have to pay for the school fees of my two children. Besides, there are other household expenses. It feels as if we are unemployed, and this is leading us to complete despair,” he said, adding that he was getting sick of having to borrow money to make ends meet.

Ram Bhajan, SSA-RMSA Teachers Union leader, said they were being forced by the government to take up a regular job at a basic pay of Rs 10,300, after leaving their contractual jobs under SSA/RMSA. “How can we work on such limited salary when we are already drawing between Rs 30,000 and Rs 42,500? By not releasing our salaries, the government is coercing us to take regular jobs at one-fourth of our current pay,” he rued.

While Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal claims that his department has not stopped or held back any salaries, Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa says the salaries of panchayat secretaries have to be paid by the block samitis, but their financial system is in a mess.

"We are working to ensure that the salaries of panchayat secretaries are released in the coming week,” he adds.

No problem at our end: FM

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal claims that the state’s financial position is much better and the Finance Department has not stopped/held back any salaries. “The issue could be related to the departments concerned, but we have not stopped any payments,” he says.

Block samitis a mess: Minister

Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa says the salaries of panchayat secretaries have to be paid by the block samitis, but their finances are a mess. “We will ensure that the salaries of panchayat secretaries are paid next week. We are developing a mechanism whereby the salaries will be paid regularly,” he claims.