By: Bhat Imran
Srinagar: While his father was a government employee working in School Education Department, a 24-year-old Shoiab couldn’t pay the examination fee for his Masters Degree and thus ended his life after the government, apparently over his past links with separatism had withheld his salary since 2019.
However, the police had given a clean chit to Shoaib’s father since he was released in 1998.
Speaking to Shoaib’s father, Bashir Ahmad Mir about the reasons of his sons’ suicide, he said he was released from police custody in 1998 and after that he was recruited as Rehbar-e-Taleem teacher in the School Education Department.
He said that after his recruitment in the department, “Crime Investigation Department (CID) in its verification has said that the person (Mir) has been silent since his release in 1998 and is busy with his profession,” Mir added.
Mir said that in March 2019 his salary was withheld by the then director of school education Kashmir—giving a reason for cases pending in high court.
“However, I had got a clean chit from CID and Police verification,” Mir said.
He said that last week his son Shoiab Bashir, a 24 year old student, ended his life after he couldn’t pay the examination fee for his Master degree.
“My deceased son has asked his mother as to why all the troubles have landed in our family and why we are so poor that he can’t even pay the examination fees for his M.A examination form,” Mir said.
He said, “Shoiab was currently pursuing B.ed course of which result was declared yesterday in which he had secured 81 percent marks,”
Mir said that his son was very efficient and was not indulged in any sort of bad activities.
Hailing from Avil DH Pora of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, Mir said that he is survived by two kids—a son and a daughter. “Shoiab was my second child.”
He said, “After five days my son ended his life for withholding my salary, the School Education Department released my salary and that too in favour of only sixth-pay-commission, while I am supposed to receive the amount as per the seventh-pay-commission of which I already had got orders.”
“If I am not getting my rightful salary as per the seventh pay commission, I will not accept it,” Mir said.
He also said, “The department has said that they have disbursed my salary but in a communiqué have written that I lack police verification.”
Meanwhile, another teacher Mohammad Amin Shah whose salary was also withheld till today for the same issues said that they were recruited under erstwhile centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and after five years they all were regularized.
“During the regime of ex-governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal regime in 2018, a made was committee wherein the government has said that they will pay the salary of Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers from the state budget as no funds were coming from central government,”
“We were categorized in Grade-II and III category of which order was also implemented in 2018,” Shah said.
Shah said that the police and CID verification has also given the nod that there was no crime charges against us.
“However in 2019, the then Director of School Education in March 2019 withheld our salaries— giving a reason for cases pending in high court. However our case was already solved,” he said.
Shah said, “HC has given direction to release our legitimate salary and teacher grade-II forthwith standing the pendency of FIR against them but despite all that our salaries were not released.”
“A total of 197 teachers were facing the problem out of which the salary was withheld of 146 teachers,” he said.
When contacted to incumbent Director of School Education Kashmir (DSEK), Tassaduq Hussain Mir said, “Transaction is pending only because of lack of clear Police verification.” (KNO)