The future of more than 5000 employees of J&K engaged in erstwhile Saakshar Bharat Mission (SBM) scheme hangs in the balance as authorities are yet to clear their stand over continuing their services.
These employees were engaged in the Government of India (GoI)-sponsored scheme SBM also called Adult Skill Development in 2011. However, in 2017, GoI closed the scheme.
These employees said that they were not given any notice about discontinuing their service in the department under the scheme.
“We were never given any notice or letter by the authorities that the scheme has been closed and our services disengaged,” an aggrieved candidate said. “Instead we are given assurances by the government about continuation of our services in the School Education Department under the SamagraShiksha scheme.”
The scheme was started in 2009 across India for educating the adults, mostly women.
“The School Education Department recruited around 5000 educated unemployed youth under the scheme to educate the adults,” another aggrieved candidate said.
In wake of the launch of the scheme, the J&K Literacy Mission was also constituted and notified in 2010 to invite applications for the recruitment of Preraks (Panchayat coordinators), block coordinators and district coordinators on merit basis at Panchayat, block and district levels.
“The contractual appointments were made through proper procedure by various committees at district level and were working for six to seven years under the supervision of concerned DIET Principals, ZEOs and headmasters under the scheme,” the aggrieved candidates said.
They said that besides working as Peraks, their services were also utilised for providing academic support in schools while they also rendered their services as booth level officers during the elections.
“We worked for six years under the scheme following which the previous regimes also initiated the process to frame a job policy for us wherein the directors of both the divisions and joint director SBM were asked to submit the necessary inputs in the matter for further appropriate action,” the candidates said.
Despite closure of the scheme, the candidates are hopeful of continuing their services in the department as the authorities are still issuing official communication to work out financial implications for continuation of their services in SamagraShiksha.
The School Education Department in an official communication has asked the project director SamagraShiksha to work out the financial implication regarding the proposal for continuation of Sakshar Bharat Mission Programme under SamagraShiksha in J&K.
“The financial implication on account of honorarium to 5675 Peraks, 40 district coordinators and 88 block coordinators worked out by SamagraShiksha is to the tune of Rs 14.52 crore per year but it doesn’t include various components of the scheme,” the official document reads.
The department asked the project director SamagraShiksha to furnish the details of total financial implications of the programme on account of the honorarium and other items as related with the scheme besides the year-wise phasing of the targets to be achieved.
“If the scheme is closed, why is the government issuing official communication for continuing our services,” the candidates said.
Project Director SamagraShiksha, Arun Kumar Manhas told Greater Kashmir that the scheme was closed in 2017 and the department had cleared all liabilities on account of the honorarium for the candidates.
“We received money till 2018 and disbursed the entire amount for disbursement of their honorarium. They can have their counter claims which we have taken up with the government. The scheme has been closed but these candidates are still living with false hopes,” he said.