Irfan Tramboo
Budgam, July 27: Thousands of Contingent Paid Workers (CPWs) in Government schools across Kashmir are paid a minimum of Rs 50 and maximum Rs 500 a month making mockery of the system.
70-years old, Fatima, is a CPW at Government Middle School in Waterwani village of district Budgam. The frail lady is getting a meager sum of Rs 200 a month.
“I do almost everything at the school, from keeping the premises clean to that of dropping the kids of lower KG to their respective homes. However, I am getting a meager sum on a monthly basis which is not enough,” she told Excelsior.
The old lady said that she is working at the school since its inception around 40 years back. The school has been upgraded, things have changed, but what remains unchanged is the sum that she is getting every month.
“When the officers were here in June under ‘Back to Village Programme’, I even requested them to get something done for me, but what they gave me were the assurances and nothing else,” Fatima said. She was holding on to the job hoping that her son would be adjusted at her place after her death.
The majority of CPWs in Government schools are women, who said that they are being exploited even when they are doing their job honestly and with utter dedication.
Another lady Afroza, a 40-years old CPW at the Primary School Aalipora village of district Budgam is also getting a maximum of Rs 150 per month as remuneration of the work that she is doing for last so many years.
“What I am getting is not constant. It depends. I get Rs 50 or Rs 100 or Rs 150, which is just a joke that they are playing with me,” she told Excelsior, adding that the department was not doing justice with them.
“We have raised the issue time and again with the authorities, but nobody is paying heed,” she said.
Another lady, Shahida, 40, is also working as a CPW at Government School in Dedina village of district Budgam. Shahida said that she is also getting an average of Rs 150 per month as remuneration to her work at the school.
Zonal Education Officer (ZEO), Soibugh Budgam, Zaffar Ahmad, told Excelsior that they were aware of the issue. He said that there are even cases that are getting a minimum of Rs 25 a month.
“We are aware of these issues, but at the same time I am telling you that the department is in the process of hiking their remuneration and the issue will be resolved,” he said.
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