Aurangabad, Sept 14:
Gangapur BJP MLA Prashant Bamb said that the House Rent Allowance (HRA) may be recovered from 40,000 teachers working at Zilla Parishad (ZP) schools in the different parts of Marathwada if they do not stay at headquarter.
It may be noted that the BJP MLA recently made a statement that teachers would not be given HRA if they are found absent at the headquarter. He wrote a letter to teachers asking them to submit proof of stay.
The MLA alleged that many teachers who work in rural areas, stay in the city and take HRA with bogus claims. Teachers' unions were upset over this statement of Bamb.
The different teachers' unions took out a mega morcha ‘Sanman Rally’ to the divisional commissioner's office on September 11 for their demands including the cancellation of Government orders about staying at the headquarter. Also, a delegation of teachers' unions met Rural Development Minister Girish Mahajan and School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar for their demands.
Talking to this newspaper on Wednesday, MLA Bamb said while seeking jobs, the teachers accept all terms and conditions of the administration.
He said that a teacher should stay at headquarter as per the Government's norms which is 15-20 years old.
“I have data and evidence of 40,000 teachers from the region who do not follow the norms of staying at the headquarter. Of them, nearly 10,000 are from the Aurangabad district. Whatever happened in the past, forget it. At least, now, they should obey the orders, otherwise, the HRA may be recovered from them as per the norms,” he asserted.
The legislator said that Government spends crores of rupees on ZP teachers' salaries so that children of poor and labour class parents should get quality education.
“I am firm on my stand that they should stay at headquarter till there are norms and impart quality education,” he added.