Mangaluru: After spending nearly 25 years educating children in some of Karnataka’s most remote regions, hundreds of outsourced teachers are facing severe financial hardship. An estimated 400 to 500 teachers working in 119 Maharshi Valmiki Adivasi Tribal Ashram Schools have alleged that they are grappling with stagnant wages and a lack of job security. They have sought the urgent intervention of President Droupadi Murmu.The teachers currently receive a monthly honorarium of Rs 10,500, which they said was significantly lower than the basic pay of Group-D workers and cooks employed in the same institutions.Located mostly in isolated and forested areas, the residential schools require teachers to remain on campus round the clock. Besides teaching, they attend to students’ health, maintain discipline, supervise accommodation and handle administrative work. They also face the risk of encounters with wild animals.“I started working in 2001 on a monthly honorarium of Rs 2,000. Even today, my pay is limited to Rs 10,500, while cooks employed through the labour department earn between Rs 23,000 and Rs 25,000,” a representative of the teachers’ protection committee said.“In forested border districts such as Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, we lack basic security. Teachers have also faced threats from wild elephant attacks,” he said.The teachers said their workload had increased owing to a shortage of support staff. “As there are no dedicated wardens, we are forced to look after multiple wards and remain at the school from 4pm until the next morning for an additional Rs 6,000. We work around the clock and take sick children to govt hospitals during medical emergencies. Yet, we have no job security, provident fund or ESI benefits, and do not receive salaries during holidays,” the representative said.The teachers have urged the scheduled tribes welfare department and the labour department to implement the principle of equal pay for equal work and regularise their services.Basavaraju HC, project coordinator, Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), Dakshina Kannada, said outsourced teachers were paid a fixed honorarium and were not covered by ESI or provident fund benefits as teaching posts did not come under the labour department.“This is a state-level policy issue. We have submitted a formal proposal seeking an increase in their monthly remuneration to Rs 25,000,” he said.
