Faulty utilisation, illegal diversion of funds mars SSA scheme in J&K

The flawed implementation and illegal diversion of funds by officials at the district and zonal level of the school education department has marred the proper implementation of centrally sponsored scheme – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in J&K.

This has left the teachers recruited under SSA high and dry given the non-payment of their salary at time.

   

As per the official figures, the state project directorate of SSA has released the salary funds up to the month of January 2018 in most of the districts while as few districts have got funds up to only November 2017. However, the chief education officers and zonal education officers in various districts have utilised the funds to release the arrears of the SSA teachers which has led to the crises in the zones and leaving teachers without their salaries.

“The funds meant for salary of the SSA teachers are diverted at CEO and ZEO level to release arrears of the teachers,” an official said.

Interestingly, the state project directorate has submitted the official figures to the administrative department of school education to expose the wrong doings of the officials in districts and zones.

“It will open a pandora’s box and things will be cleared as well. The diversion of salary funds to arrears has created a mess in the zones and the teachers are subjected to mental torture by delaying release of their salaries, the official said.

As per the official figures, the state project director (SPD) SSA has released the salary funds of head teachers and zonal resource persons and cluster resource persons up to January 2018 and in some districts the funds have been released up to March 2018.

However, the teachers have not received their salaries from past two to three months.

“In some districts, SSA teachers are without salaries from November while as some teachers have not received it from October,” a group of SSA teachers said.

They said the mismanagement of funds at district and zonal level was telling upon their day to day lives. “The department should clear all the ambiguity in disbursement of funds and teachers should be given their salary after every month,” they said.

To top it all, the school education department has ‘distorted’ the figure of SSA teachers working in the school education department which has increased the ‘unnecessary’ liability on the SSA directorate to release the salary of teachers.

“Besides SSA teachers, the state government has engaged ReT teachers under state plan and are supposed to get their salaries from state funds but the department has mixed them with SSA teachers and demand their salary under SSA funds which is not possible,” the official said.

He said the salary of SSA teachers is released from MHRD on the basis of opening of schools and recruitment of teachers under the SSA scheme.

“MHRD won’t release salary of ReT teachers recruited under state plan,” the official said.

Secretary school education department Farooq Ahmad Shah said they would convene a meeting of SSA directorate and other officials and resolve the issue.

“SSA has reconciled the figure from ZEOs and the pending salary will be released within few days,” he said.

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