Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 14: The Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum (JKTF), affiliated with All India Secondary Teachers Federation (AISTF) today convened an important meeting at Jammu under the leadership of Provincial President, Jammu, Gulshan Sharma, to deliberate upon a number of long-pending and unresolved issues concerning teachers of the Jammu Province.
During the meeting, the Forum strongly highlighted the issue of pending liabilities related to GPF, SLI, gratuity, leave encashment, and other retirement benefits, pointing out that hundreds of in-service and retired teachers are facing severe financial hardship due to inordinate delays in settlement of their legitimate dues.
The members also deliberated upon Annual Transfer Drive (ATD) issues in the Jammu Division and observed that arbitrary and delayed transfers have disrupted academic functioning and caused avoidable inconvenience to teachers. JKTF demanded immediate rationalization and fair implementation of ATD to ensure smooth functioning of educational institutions.
The meeting further expressed serious concern over the pending salary budget for the Jammu Division, stating that uncertainty regarding salary allocation has created widespread anxiety among teachers. The Forum also highlighted the alarming financial distress faced by teachers who have availed housing, education, and personal loans from banks and financial institutions. Due to recurring delays in the release of salaries, many teachers are unable to pay their monthly loan EMIs on time, leading to penalties, damaged credit records, and humiliation by lending agencies. The Forum termed this situation as extremely unfortunate and unacceptable, emphasizing that teachers should not be pushed into the category of defaulters due to administrative lapses beyond their control.
The Forum urged the Finance Department to ensure timely release of adequate salary budget provisions so that teachers are not made to suffer because of procedural delays.
Addressing the meeting, Provincial President JKTF, Gulshan Sharma, said that
these issues must be treated as urgent and resolved without any further delay.
JKTF srongly urged the School Education Department and the Finance Department to intervene immediately and take concrete steps for early redressal of all pending issues of the Jammu Province, warning that continued neglect may adversely affect the overall education system.
The meeting was attended by District Presidents Rail Singh, Ali Akbar, Shahbaz Akbar Khan, Bhupinder Singh, Aakash Bharti, Imtiyaz-ul-Haq, Nassir-ul-Haq, Lokesh Sharma, Mohd Amin, Ferdous Choudhary, along with other senior office bearers of the Forum.
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