Mukul Roy writes to Amit Shah highlighting problems of para-teachers in West Bengal

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice-president Mukul Roy on Monday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah highlighting the problems of the para-teachers in West Bengal.

In the letter, Roy said the West Bengal government 'deliberately ignored' the demands of the para-teachers.

"The para-teachers in West Bengal have been deprived of their just rights including the promised honorarium for a long time. Their pleas to the State Government including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remained unheard and ignored," said the letter.

He said that while the pay-scale of para-teachers in other states was quite high, in West Bengal, the para-teachers get an honorarium of Rs 10,000 for serving in Primary Schools and Rs 13,000 for Upper Primary Schools.

"The para-teachers now have come down to streets to voice their demands. Their demand for a pay structure at par with other Indian states is being ignored by the West Bengal state government. Notably, West Bengal has over 63,000 para teachers under the Samagra Siksha Mission of West Bengal who are getting deprived of fair pay," Roy wrote.

On January 27, demanding an equal salary as that of permanent teachers, an association of teachers forum including part-time teachers staged a protest outside West Bengal Assembly.

( With inputs from ANI )