Rano
VIP
Jammu, July 7
Irrespective of their age, every villager addresses her as Chachi-Chaprasan. The 76-year-old skinny woman with grey and brown matted hair earned this pseudonym while doing the job of a peon at government school in her native village Tala Nagara in Sunder Bani tehsil. She started working in the school in 1964 after she was persuaded by a village elder that one day her services would be regularised. Forty-Six years on, sadly enough, her profession earned her just an identity but no social security.
She mops the floor of four rooms, two verandas and sweeps the sprawling compound of the school every morning. After she is finished with the work, she has to make several rounds for bringing buckets full of water from a spring about one kilometre from the school. Besides, she prepares and serves tea to the teaching staff twice a day and rinses their tiffin-boxes after they have eaten their lunch.
All she gets for this work is Rs 500. It’s not her monthly income but the annual salary. The life of Chachi-Chaprasan, whose real name is Dharmo Devi, has been tragic. She became a widow at the age of 22. To eke out a living for her children, she started working at the school. But till now her dream of the regularisation of her service remains unfulfilled.
“I went on leave only once during my service around two decades ago when I underwent a surgery. Otherwise, I never availed of any leave,” said Chachi-Chaprasan. She added, “Over the years, the strength of students and number of rooms have increased in the school. The school has been upgraded from primary to middle level, but my salary has remained the same.”
Sources in the school Education Department said such workers were called ‘contingent workers’. “Their salary differs from school to school. They are paid from the contingency fund of the school,” they said and added, “The annual contingency fund for a school does not exceed Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000. It is from this amount schools have to meet miscellaneous expenses, besides making payment to such workers.”
With the start of the mid-day meal scheme, her financial condition has improved a little. Though officially her son has been assigned with the job, she cooks meals for the students and rinses utensils. She does everything single-handedly and gets an additional amount of Rs 500 every month.
Instead of being disillusioned, Chachi is still full of hope that one day his grandson would get a permanent job of peon in the same school. “Last year, I gave in writing that my grandson be given a permanent job when I am not able to work,” she says with a weary smile showing her decayed teeth.
Irrespective of their age, every villager addresses her as Chachi-Chaprasan. The 76-year-old skinny woman with grey and brown matted hair earned this pseudonym while doing the job of a peon at government school in her native village Tala Nagara in Sunder Bani tehsil. She started working in the school in 1964 after she was persuaded by a village elder that one day her services would be regularised. Forty-Six years on, sadly enough, her profession earned her just an identity but no social security.
She mops the floor of four rooms, two verandas and sweeps the sprawling compound of the school every morning. After she is finished with the work, she has to make several rounds for bringing buckets full of water from a spring about one kilometre from the school. Besides, she prepares and serves tea to the teaching staff twice a day and rinses their tiffin-boxes after they have eaten their lunch.
All she gets for this work is Rs 500. It’s not her monthly income but the annual salary. The life of Chachi-Chaprasan, whose real name is Dharmo Devi, has been tragic. She became a widow at the age of 22. To eke out a living for her children, she started working at the school. But till now her dream of the regularisation of her service remains unfulfilled.
“I went on leave only once during my service around two decades ago when I underwent a surgery. Otherwise, I never availed of any leave,” said Chachi-Chaprasan. She added, “Over the years, the strength of students and number of rooms have increased in the school. The school has been upgraded from primary to middle level, but my salary has remained the same.”
Sources in the school Education Department said such workers were called ‘contingent workers’. “Their salary differs from school to school. They are paid from the contingency fund of the school,” they said and added, “The annual contingency fund for a school does not exceed Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000. It is from this amount schools have to meet miscellaneous expenses, besides making payment to such workers.”
With the start of the mid-day meal scheme, her financial condition has improved a little. Though officially her son has been assigned with the job, she cooks meals for the students and rinses utensils. She does everything single-handedly and gets an additional amount of Rs 500 every month.
Instead of being disillusioned, Chachi is still full of hope that one day his grandson would get a permanent job of peon in the same school. “Last year, I gave in writing that my grandson be given a permanent job when I am not able to work,” she says with a weary smile showing her decayed teeth.
