No Onam for alternative school teachers in Idukki

KOTTAYAM: Onam has not brought any joy to the 82 alternative school teachers in Idukki district as  they have not    received their salaries since  April.  

Most of them work in  the tribal hamlets and interiors of  Idukki district  drawing a meagre Rs 5,000 per month.

The alternative schools (Ekadhyapaka Vidyalayam) were  started in the state in 2000 to facilitate the education of  students  who could not pursue their studies due to various reasons.   

“Our Onam celebrations have been hit due to the non-payment of salaries  for the last five months,” Mr Muralidharan, a  teacher at the MG LP school, Olakkayam,  Edamalakudy tribal panchayat,  told DC.  

Ms Jayalakshmi  of  the MG LP school, Nellipetty, said, “We are working now because of our  commitment to teach the children.   From March this year, we have not been getting  salaries,” she said.

The education department authorities in Idukki said that salaries had not been paid due to the government’s delay in sanctioning  the funds.

“We haven’t received the allotments so far. It is for the government to do it,”  said Ms P.K. Pankajakshi who holds the charge of Idukki  DEO.