ABOUT five lakh teachers and employees of non-government schools and madrassahs are waiting to receive their enhanced salary in terms of MPO benefits (Monthly Payment Order) in the light of the 8th National Pay Scale. Their frustration is only deepening when the government officials are already drawing their salary under the new pay scale from July 2015. Bangladesh Shikkhak Samity has announced a new agitation programme from March 30 at Upazila level to protest the uneven government attitude and press for starting the payment of their benefits forthwith.
The Shikkhak Samity leaders said serious frustration is making the lives of the teachers and employees intolerable from growing cost of living and other social marginalization. Their impatience is further growing with the delaying tactics of the Ministry of Finance to start the payment. They complained that despite several reminders from the Ministry of Education there is no apparent progress in this regard.
It appears that the Finance Ministry is delaying the payment citing shortage of fund and indicating that the payment may start after the next budget from July. Private school teachers and their employees feel utterly devastated by such lose pledge and mindless attitude terming the situation highly discriminatory and regrettable.
It may be mentioned that thousands of teachers and employees of private schools and madrassahs are also waiting on their retirement for payment of pension benefits. It appears that the processing of such benefits takes at least four to five years now when many beneficiaries die while others live in poverty in absence of regular income source. Here is also the fund shortage blamed for causing the setback.
It goes without saying that the government has awarded a very lavish pay scale last year to its employees mainly on political consideration to appease the members of bureaucracy and thereby to continue in power. But in doing so it has not taken into account whether the nation can afford the budgetary load. Meanwhile, the mainstream bureaucrats are withdrawing salary as per the new pay scale, but fund shortage is blamed for delaying the payment to poor school teachers and employees.
In our view the government can’t and should not blame fund shortage to justify the delay in payment to teachers and employees when it can pay the bureaucrats. It should also keep in mind that any agitation at local schools and madrassahs will destroy the teaching environment and bring harm to academic life. The aggrieved teachers and employees should get what is entitled to them and the government should start paying without delay.
