BANIHAL, Oct 18: A delegation of the Jammu Kashmir Teachers’ Joint Action Committee (JKTJAC), led by UT Vice President Dr. Aaftab Malik, met Education Minister Sakina Masood Itoo at Banihal and raised several long-pending issues concerning the teaching fraternity, particularly teachers appointed under the Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) scheme.
The meeting was held in the presence of Banihal MLA Sajad Shaheen, Director School Education Jammu Dr. Naseem Javaid Chowdhary, Joint Director Ashfaq Ahmed, CEO Ramban Oneel Bhat, Principal A.R. Giri and ZEO Banihal Jamshed Khan.
During the interaction, Dr. Malik urged the government to extend the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to all ReTs appointed before January 1, 2010, in accordance with Government Order No. 305-F. He also sought the extension of the order’s benefits to ReTs appointed after the cutoff date whose posts had been advertised before January 2010.
Raising the issue of departmental promotion committees (DPCs), Malik pointed out that several posts of masters were lying vacant in the Jammu division. He requested the Education Department to expedite the promotion process to address the stagnation faced by teachers who have remained in the same cadre for more than two decades.
The delegation also raised the demand for post-facto permission for teachers who had pursued graduation, enabling them to be converted into Teacher Grade II. Other issues included the release of pending Mid-Day Meal (MDM) dues, regularisation of left-out EV-converted ReTs and revision of school timings in the winter zones of Jammu division on the lines of Kashmir division.
After hearing the delegation, Education Minister Sakina Masood Itoo assured the JKTJAC leadership that the issues raised would be taken up for redressal. She also assured them that the process of conducting DPCs for teachers would be expedited.
Regarding the demand for changing school timings, the Minister issued on-the-spot directions to the Director School Education Jammu.
The delegation included zonal and district-level office-bearers, coordinators, cluster presidents, secretaries and executive members of JKTJAC from different areas of Jammu and Kashmir. Among them were Ghulam Nabi Tantray, Gulzar Ahmed Zohda, Fayaz Ahmed Nayak, Parvaiz Ahmed, Farooq Ahmed Naik, Mansing, Khurshid Ahmed, Showkat Ahmed Tantray, Javaid Ahmed Bali, Dr. Bilal Makhdoomi, Dilbag Singh and Azad Katoch, along with other members.
The meeting concluded with the delegation expressing hope that the assurances given by the Education Minister would lead to the early resolution of the teachers’ long-pending grievances.