Teachers paid less: oppn leaders slam BBMP

The opposition party leaders came down heavily on BBMP’s Roshini project saying that it was unfortunate for the Palike school teachers to be paid less than sanitation workers.

During the council meeting on Thursday, Padmanabha Reddy, the Opposition Leader in council, said: “The BBMP school teachers are paid very less when compared to the pourakarmikas, which is hard to digest. The salaries of the teachers should be hiked.”

The Palike schools can be improved with its own funds instead of depending on corporate companies, he said.

“We welcome the private companies, and what they are doing is good. But our schools are doing fine and they can be developed with our own funds. We can also bring all the government schools on the outskirts of the city under the BBMP and provide better education to the children,” he said.

However, the Congress leaders argued that collaborating with corporate companies would take technical education in the schools to the next level.

“The companies will provide tablets to children in the coming days. They are furnishing the schools with dongles. The BBMP schools are getting the most advanced teaching through the latest technologies,” said Shivaraj, a Congress leader.

Incentive scheme

Ali Sait, CEO, Tech Avant-Garde said: “We will bring incentive scheme for the BBMP school teachers based on the results that schools get. The Palike has got the best teachers with necessary skills. Some of them gained certificates in just three days of training that we are offering them.”

‘Roshini- a Hindi word’

S Raju, a BJP member, condemned the name ‘Roshini’ given to the project as it is in Hindi.

“Being a project in Bengaluru, it should have been named in Kannada. There was no need for a Hindi word. It should have been named as ‘BBMP Ashakirana’.” he said.

However, mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun said the intention with which the project has been started matters and not the name or language.

High drama

A high drama emerged during the meeting as the Opposition leaders brought about the topic of Narase Gowda, a BBMP contractor from ward 103 (Cauvery Pura) who is allegedly involved in ‘exploitation’ of BBMP garbage vehicles.

“He used his drivers, cooks and other workers and got fake fingerprints for the sanitation workers, created bank accounts for them and made money. He tried to earn money in all possible unlawful ways. The former deputy mayor, Ramila Umashankar had brought it into the notice of mayor several times when she was a corporator,” said Govind Raj Nagar corporator, Umesh Shetty.

The Opposition party leaders demanded the mayor to move the letter they submitted during the meeting. When the mayor asked for two days time to investigate the matter, the opposition leaders raised their voices and walked out of the meeting.