The Education department has attributed the delay in payment to non-release of funds by the Finance department.
In Bakhtra village in Sangrur, teachers say they are buying food because the people who send their children to school are very poor. In Patiala district alone, the money that is due has climbed to Rs 1.5 crore. Jagjit Singh Nouhra, a teacher and convener of the Sikhiya Vikas Manch, said: “Schools were assured quick reimbursement. Unable to spend from their pockets, some have stopped giving meals. The cooks, who get Rs 1,000 per month, have not been paid since November.”
A school in Baura Khurd village in Bhadson block of Nabha has not been paid for three months. The panchayat passed a resolution to stop the mid-day meal scheme. A school in Rotipura village in the same block has been picking up rations on credit. Its cooks have not been paid for five months.
In Amloh block of Fatehgarh Sahib, where rations-on-credit is now common, teachers are complaining: “For a scheme like this, money should be given in advance.”
B Purushartha, state Director General of School Education, said the Finance department was asked two weeks ago to release Rs 82 crore. He said the department released over Rs 8 crore two days ago. The rest, he said. would be released in a “phased manner.”