Govt, Oppn clash over delayed salaries of 400 education staff

MAPUSA
The issue of unpaid salaries to around 400 teaching and non-teaching employees of educational institutions triggered another heated confrontation between the Opposition and the government during Zero Hour on Monday, with the Opposition demanding immediate release of the pending salaries and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant insisting that the government was ready to pay once the chairmen of the respective local school managements completed the required formalities.
Raising the issue, Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai highlighted the plight of employees who, despite continuing to work, have allegedly gone without salaries, causing severe financial hardship and uncertainty over their livelihood and job security.
Sardesai pointed to the dispute involving the Diocesan Society of Education, which had approached the High Court over the release of salaries. The High Court had directed the government to release the salaries, the issue being raised in the Assembly.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao immediately intervened, raising a point of order and objecting to the matter not being taken up for a wider discussion despite him and other Opposition MLAs having moved a calling attention motion.
Alemao maintained that the issue affected the livelihood of hundreds of employees and warranted a detailed discussion in the House.
He also urged the government to comply with the High Court's directions and not allow the dispute to become a matter of prestige.
“The High Court direction is crystal clear. Please do not make this an ego issue,” Alemao said, pressing the government to release the salaries of the affected teaching and non-teaching staff.
Sawant, however, maintained that there was no reluctance on the part of the government to release the salaries.
He said the required documents had to be signed by the chairmen of the respective local school managements before the government could process the payments.
“Let the chairman sign; we will release the salaries the very next day,” Sawant said.
The Chief Minister also informed the House that the matter had been taken up before the Supreme Court.
Alemao hit back, accusing the government of unnecessarily prolonging the issue despite the High Court's order. “You have challenged it in the Supreme Court because you have turned it into an ego issue,” he retorted.
The Opposition insisted that the government should not allow procedural and legal wrangling to come in the way of salaries of employees who had continued to discharge their duties.