Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network
Imphal, December 19 2010:
Workers and volunteers of adult education from Senapati, Tamenglong, Chandel and Thoubal districts have expressed their resentment against the authority over non payment of honorarium and abject indifference of the authority to their plight despite assurances to that effect.
The interactive meeting was attended by Manipur education minister L Jayata Kumar, Jagmohan Singh Raju, joint secretary, adult education and director, national literacy mission authority and BB Sharma, commissioner, adult education, Government of Manipur.
In a press meet at Kangla in the heart of Imphal today after the program, workers and volunteers of Sanchar Bharti Adult Education under the Government of India, after having attended an annual review meet, have rued that despite assurances from the authority sometimes back that honorarium will soon be disbursed in recognition of their year-long work for adult education, there has not been any progress so far.
Today in the sideline of an interactive meeting with stakeholders and the review of Sanchar Bharti National Literacy Mission in Manipur which was organized by National Literacy Mission Authority, Government of India in collaboration with State literacy mission held at Kangla in the heart of Imphal, the volunteers said that more than a thousand volunteers have come to the program expecting honorarium but were betrayed by the authority.
Most of them have not been paid even a single paisa for over 1 year now by the adult education department.
Gogou Vaiphei, a worker, said that even though people are doing hard work at the grassroots level, there is so much of indifference at the higher level.
The volunteers have conducted household surveys for the entire year without getting paid a single paisa for the services rendered.
R Lanjan Aimol from Tengnoupal has expressed similar umbrage that works performed by the volunteers are not sufficiently rewarded by the government department.
"Adult education sounds good only on paper, but the reality at the ground is pathetic with honorarium not being paid to the workers for a long time," he regretted.
TM Sam Koireng, senior worker, has also resented that honorarium has not been paid since 2005.According to him, the officials have assured that bank accounts for each worker will be opened and the money transferred before Christmas but nothing has been done to that effect as was revealed from September report available with the officials.
The bank forms have also not been submitted so far.
Lamneilhing Kipgen from Senapati district said that the program today was a major let down.
She and the others have started off at around 4 am from Senapati, some 170 km away from Imphal, on a hired bus costing Rs 8000, to attend the interactive meeting with the assurance that the honorarium which is due to them will be disbursed today.
Besides not getting the honorarium, the participating workers were served very limited food at the meet.
Damanti from Tamenglong has expressed optimism towards the initiative of educating adults through the government program but lamented that until now classroom paraphernalia like blackboard and chalks remain illusive.
Apparently, the officials who had come to attend the meet vanish without honoring the assurance of providing honorarium to the workers and volunteers at the meet.
No TA/DA was also provided to the participating workers.
The volunteers and workers have condemned the department over negligence and insensitivity to their plight at the press meet convened after the interaction program.