Vidya volunteers walk out of jobs

​Hyderabad: Do not be surprised if there are no Vidya volunteers left in government schools in the city, quipped a school headmaster, for slowly but steadily, one by one, Vidya volunteers are leaving their jobs as they have not been paid for the last four months.

For instance, Vijay Kumar who was posted in Government Boys School, Nampally, has now quit in disgust. He says, “I would rather stay in Narayankhed from where I belong as it is getting difficult to make both ends meet.” This is not an isolated case. Many Vidya volunteers are now leaving the city and going back to their villages.

With a meagre salary of Rs 8,000 per month, living in Hyderabad is getting difficult, says Ramesh, another Vidya volunteer. District Education Officer (DEO) agreed about the sluggish attitude of officials towards their work and assured that this year they would take care of the payments for Vidya volunteers first as clearing salaries would be the first work in the month. “I have also forwarded the request to the higher officials regarding house rent allowances to the volunteers,” he added.

According to a report from the district education office, only 396 volunteers were recruited last year. But this year, the number had been raised to 492 volunteers for Hyderabad district. This increase in requirement was due to the growth in number of students in government schools.

In the last academic year, salaries were delayed for four months and even this year, salaries have not been paid for the last two months. Even the HRA amount of 30 per cent had not been paid. In the meanwhile, students are sitting idle in classes as there are no teachers. A student, Ramu from Government Boys School in Nampally, who studies in class Six said that most of the time they were playing as there was no teacher in the school for them to look after.