UP: Salaries of Thousands of Govt. Teachers Withheld After Failing to Provide Vaccination Certificates

Lucknow: A group of teachers protested outside the district magistrate's office in Agra on Thursday afternoon, seeking justice for 10,000 peers whose salaries for July had been withheld after they "failed to provide COVID-19 vaccination certificates". The salaries of the teachers were withheld courtesy an order by Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA), Brajraj Singh on July 4.

The order said that salaries would not be disbursed to government employees if they failed to get vaccinated till July 31. Salaries for July would be disbursed only after employees produce a vaccination certificate, a district official said. The district treasury officer has been directed to collect vaccination certificates and compile information about the inoculation of government employees against COVID-19.

The heads of employees’ associations in the district have called the move “dictatorial” and said that the BSA was not a lawmaker and could not impose such decisions on members of state staff.

“The teachers' salary is released through an online process. The ID of the teachers is generated on the module. After this, it is sent by the finance and accounts officer to the treasury, which sends it to the RBI portal following which the salary is released to teachers. Once uploaded to the portal, there is no scope for modification. Due to this process, the salary for July could remain pending for a long time. If the amount for July does not come within a week or so, then the salary for August will also be delayed," Brijesh Dixit, district head of the Uttar Pradesh Prathmik Shikshak Sangh, told Newsclick.

"The BSA has issued this order without speaking to the employees. The MoHFW had clearly said in an RTI response that vaccination was voluntary and had no connection with government jobs, nationality or government facilities. I will speak to the DM and request him to withdraw this order," he added.

Meanwhile, BSA Singh said that the purpose of issuing the order was only to know how many teachers have been vaccinated. He added that salaries would be credited in the next two to three days and that it had been released from the treasury.

"We are making all possible efforts to achieve the target of cent per cent vaccination in the district. Several steps have been taken in this direction," said Singh while confirming the order.

However Dixit contradicted Singh, saying that even salaries of teachers who got both doses of the vaccine have also been withheld. "The teachers' union will agitate against this arbitrariness," he added.

A similar notice was issued by Lakhimpur Kheri district magistrate Arvind Chaurasia. He has also said that government employees in the district will not get their salaries until they submit a COVID-19 vaccination certificate. Kumar has also instructed the treasury department to withhold salaries for those who fail to provide a COVID-19 vaccination certificate.

Teachers have been one of the most-affected groups during the pandemic, with them not considered as frontline warriors. Around 1,600 teachers, 'shiksha mitras' and instructors died due to COVID-19-like symptoms after performing panchayat election duty in the state, as per the Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (RSM).

"The directions to stop salaries were issued by district magistrates since Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath promised to felicitate officers if they are able to vaccinate the maximum number of and ensure a COVID-free district. Every officer is following the order for brownie points, no matter if they withhold salary or harass government employees," said Virendra Mishra, national spokesperson of the RSM, a national-level outfit of primary school teachers. He told Newsclick that the union has been demanding a vaccination drive for state employees, including teachers, but that the government has not paid heed to their demands.

"Just because some people did not get vaccinated due to its non-availability in Agra, everyones salaries for July has been withheld, which is not justifiable. If the government and district magistrate is so concerned about vaccination, why don't they vaccinate teachers and other staff on a priority basis. Despite repeated requests for a vaccination counter for teachers or state employees at every district hospital, they turned it down," Mishra said, claiming that the state was already running out of doses.