HUBLI: A large number of teachers, who were appointed to work for 12 months on contract basis in a government scheme, were reportedly forced to deposit one month salary as security by the recruiting agency illegally. The teachers have been alleging the agency of discriminating against the Kannada medium teachers by fixing less salary than what their English medium counterparts get. The state government has outsourced around 2,500 teachers for Adarsh Vidyalaya and upgraded schools under Rastriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). It has appointed Astrix Technologies Private Limited, a Bangalore-based consulting and IT service company to appoint the teachers. The agency which has appointed teachers for the next 12 months, has put a rider to the appointees that they have to deposit the first month’s salary as security. However, the government has not permitted the agency to collect any such deposits. However, at the time of issuing offer letters, the agency has been collecting the amount through Demand Drafts (DDs). The candidates were clearly told that it would be a ‘formal document’ and that they would stand to lose their posts if they did not pay the sum on time. Apart from this, the government and the agency looking down upon Kannada medium teachers has been a cause for heartburn among many. While the Kannada medium teachers were offered a salary of Rs 12,000 per month, the salary was fixed at `14,000 for English medium teachers. With all this discrimination and unscientific recruitment, teachers all over the state have been thinking of quitting, according to sources.Rajesh (name changed), a recently appointed Adarsh Vidyalaya teacher, told The New Indian Express that the agency has been appointing over 4,000 employees, including 2,500 teachers in the state and has collected over `5 crore as deposit. “There was no intimation about ‘security deposit’ when the recruitment notification was published. It was only after completing the recruitment process that the appointees were asked verbally to deposit the amount. It shows that they are not collecting the deposit legally,” he said.Astrix Technologies Pvt Ltd Director R Shankar told The New Indian Express that the deposit amount was ‘refundable’. If any candidate quits or abstains from classes, the agency has to pay Rs 1,000 per day to the government as a penalty. That is why we are collecting the deposit, he claimed. However, he agreed that it had not been mentioned in the MoU between the recruitment agency and the state government.
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