Pune: Around 50 staff members of the Rosary School, Bibvewadi on Wednesday launched an indefinite protest outside the main branch of the school in Camp over delays in payment of salaries for over past six to eight months.

While the teachers were ready to protest till they received their salaries, they were relieved by the end of the day as Vivek Aranha, one of the owners of the Rosary Group, met them and gave them a written assurance that the due amount will be paid within two months in instalments. Around 50 teachers took part in the protest supported by the ‘Bhim Army’.

Speaking about the teachers’ plight, Datta Pol of Bhim Army said, “Around 200 staffers, the teachers as well as non-teaching staff of four Rosary Schools haven’t received their salaries regularly for many months. However, the condition of the teachers at the Rosary School in Bibvewadi is worst. We have written several letters to the management. We did not receive any positive response from them. Moreover, their PFs too aren’t being deposited regularly.”

A teacher, on condition of anonymity, said that cheques of meagre amounts given to them bounce several times.
“We never received our salaries from October 2016 to April 2017. Without clearing these salaries, they then began paying salaries from May 2017. Later, from October 2017, they again stopped paying us, which has continued till now. It’s difficult to live without salaries for such a long time. The management is arrogantly saying -Why do you need salaries when your husbands are earning,” the teacher said.

Aranha gave them a written assurance that 30 per cent of the pending amount, along with salary of January, will be paid to the teachers by Saturday, February 17. He said 20 per cent will be paid by February 22 and the rest 50 per cent by April 15.