Residential Special Training Centres staff not getting paid for 4 months

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Around 700 employees of various Residential Special Training Centres (RSTCs) of Assam, who have been working under the Assam Sarba Siksha Abhiyan Mission (SSA), are yet to receive their salaries for the last four months.

This has been disclosed by the president of the All Assam Residential Special Training Centre Workers' Association, Abdur Rajib. He said that they have been working on meagre salaries and non-payment of even this small amount has made their condition dire amidst the crisis created by floods.

He attributed the non-receipt of salaries to the apathy of SSA officials. Rajib urged Assam's Chief Minister and Education Minister to have the matter investigated and also ensure expeditious release of their arrear salaries.

It may be mentioned in this context that the All Assam Residential Special Training Center Workers' Association had recently appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a personal initiative to ensure re-opening of six RSTCs in four districts of the State, which were closed down with effect from April 1 last. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the association stated that its members have been working in the RSTCs under the auspices of Assam Sarba Siksha Abhiyan Mission (SSA). "We have been employed on a modest basis since 2003, although we had hoped that the Government of Assam would provide us with permanent employment but, on the contrary, we have had to close all our centres with effect from April 1, 2022," the letter stated.

The association further informed the Prime Minister that the RSTCs have been closed down on the ground of non-release of funds by the Central Government. Asserting that many of the 600 laid-off workers "will die due to starvation", the association requested the Prime Minister to take necessary steps for re-opening the six RSTCs of the State. It may be mentioned that the RSTCs closed by the SSA include two RSTCs in the Biswanath district, two in the Dhemaji district and one each in the Kamrup (Metro) and Sonitpur districts. The RSTC intervention is for 'out-of-school' children in the 11-14 years age group. The RSTC is run in a residential mode. The prime objective of this intervention is to bring the 'out-of-school' children, including the child labourers, and get them enrolled in his/her age-appropriate class in a formal school. After that, they are provided special training support so that they can be mainstreamed in due course. The special training is provided for a maximum of two years.

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