Haryana: No Staff Recruited Since 1998, Teachers Pay to Get Schools Cleaned in Karnal

New Delhi: Teachers of government schools in Haryana’s Karnal district have hired cleaning staff to keep schools hygienic, with piles of garbage mounting on or near the premises. In a survey conducted recently, it was found that the majority of schools have themselves arranged for cleaning staff and are paying them from their own pockets.

According to a report in The Tribune, cleaning staff has not been recruited in schools since the past several years and a majority of government schools in the district are grappling with shortage and mounting filth. This has left teachers with no choice but to hire cleaning staff, mainly for sweeping the premises, and pay from their own pockets.

The data from the Education Department, cited in the report, shows that around 48% of sweepers' posts are vacant in different schools. The data shows that against the sanctioned posts of 668 cleaning staff or sweepers in the middle, high and secondary schools and District Education Office (DEO), 349 posts have been filled while the remaining 319 are lying vacant.

The officials told The Tribune that no recruitment of cleaning staff was conducted after 1998 in the department leading to a gradual increase in the shortage.

According to the report, only in primary schools, a budget of Rs 8,000 per worker/ per month has been made from this month. While in other schools, comprising senior secondary, high and middle, there is no budget provision for staff for sweeping the premises. 

Some teachers feel that the Prime Minister has been asking people to maintain cleanliness through the Swachh Bharat Mission, but schools are neglected in this mission as nobody is paying attention to recruiting new sanitation workers.

“Our sweeper retired nearly six months ago, and no staff was given to us by the department despite several requests, so we arranged one from the village. Which we pay from our own pocket,” a teacher of the Nilokheri block reportedly told The Tribune.

One teacher from Indri block said no recruitment was made for the past several years, due to which schools had been facing a lot of problems related to hygiene.

Several government officials have admitted that there has been no budget allocation towards recruiting cleaning staff in primary schools. Several others have demanded that the government should appoint sweepers in schools.

District Education Officer Raj Pal told The Tribune  that the department had sent a request to the higher authorities to fill all vacant posts of cleaning and sanitation staff and were hopeful that all vacant posts would be filled soon.

Rohtash Verma, District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO), said that earlier, there was no budget allocation for sweepers in primary schools, but from this month, a provision of Rs 8,000 has been made in the budget and sent to the BEOs for disbursement.