The Hindu Business Line : Gratuity for teachers

The Supreme Court ruling of 2004 that teachers are not covered by the term employees as defined under the Payment of Gratuity Act 1972, however incongruous it may be, has caused misery to school and college teachers all over the country.

Many teachers who have worked for decades will have to spend their retirement in penury while the educational institutions, especially the private ones, served by them make even more money by not paying them gratuity.

Teachers are comparatively underpaid, particularly at the school level. An IT professional starts with ten times the salary of an ordinary schoolteacher. There is a shortage of teachers in the country's schools. The need of the hour is to encourage teachers of quality to mould the future citizens, particularly in this era of globalisation.

Already, many private schools do not pay teachers even the minimum pay-scales to help them maintain a decent living standard. There is an urgent need for the Government to revise their salaries and welfare measures. Bright students are not taking up teaching jobs because of low salary levels.

Teachers are also salary-earners, as much as anybody else. It is totally unfair to deny them social security benefits that are available to others just because they fall outside the ambit of the definition of `employees' stipulated in the Gratuity Act. Certainly, it cannot be the intention of the framers to keep teachers out of the ambit of the Gratuity Act.

The HRD and Law Ministries should immediately look into this matter and ensure that the Gratuity Act is suitably amended to restore the benefit to all teachers who are being now denied the benefit of gratuity.

S. Narayan

Mumbai

Letters to the editor and contributions can be sent by e-mail to: bleditor@thehindu.co.in

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