Hill college teachers claim arrears denied

SNS, DARJEELING, 17JUNE 21: The Hill College Unit of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of the West Bengal College and University Professors' Association (WBCUPA) has drawn the attention of CM Mamata Banerjee to the various problems that have come up due to the absence of a Higher Education Cell in the Hills.

The Hill unit has recently written to the CM, requesting her to look into issues such as arrears that have not been paid due to the delay in having the "fixation letter."

"The nine government-aided colleges, including the BEd College in the hills, had been handed over to the GTA (Gorkhaland Territorial Administration) in the year 2013.

We did not face problems for some years initially, but now the situation has become complex with three departments involved. As promised, no Education Cell was also formed, which we feel would bring about a solution to our problems," said Dorjey Lama, the Darjeeling Unit President, WBCUPA. The three departments that look after the colleges at present include the GTA, state Higher Education department and the Ministry of Home and Hill Affairs.

"A few years after the colleges were handed over to the GTA, there was a delay and some uncertainty seen in matters like fixation letters. In cases of new appointments, until our fixation letter comes, we are given a token amount as salary and not the declared scale of the government. This stays as arrears and is not paid as only a consolidated amount of fund comes to the GTA, which is only enough for our salary. Similar is the situation in promotion cases, when one does not get the increased salary until the fixation letter arrive in some months," said Mr Lama.

According to him, promotions are looked after by the Department of Higher Education, while their financial matters are handled by the GTA and the Ministry of Home and Hill Affairs.

"Our core problem is not having a Higher Education Cell. Once it is set up, it can act as a liaison between the GTA and the Department of Higher Education, with us approaching them with our problems. The cell can also calculate our annual budget and funds for it allotted accordingly," he added.

In the letter to the CM, the members of the unit have maintained that permanent teachers in Hill Colleges have not yet received their arrears of the ROPA 2019 from January, 2020 to 31 May of the same year, while the State-Aided College Teachers (SACT) are yet to receive their arrears from 1 January,2020 to 30 September, 2020.

The unit has also claimed that there were arrears in respect of teachers related to fixation CAS and promotional, MPhil and PhD incentives and that of non-teaching staff whose over 10 and 20 years of benefits have not been paid as yet.