Pay staff as per 6th pay commission: HC to school

In a ruling that has offered a ray of hope to teachers across the city, the Bombay high court on Friday ordered the management of St Xavier’s High School, Nerul, to pay its staff as per the sixth pay commission.

Teachers of St Xavier’s went on a ‘cease work strike’ for nearly a week in December 2011 and demanded salaries as per the sixth pay commission. The school management had increased fees, saying it had to pay teachers as per the sixth pay commission. But teachers alleged that the staff was not being paid even as per the fifth pay commission and filed a case in the high court.

The court ruling has left teachers happy. “We have finally got justice. Ours is the first school in Navi Mumbai which fought and won such a case,” said a teacher from
St Xavier’s, Nerul.

 Sheila D’Mello, a teacher and vice-president of the Forum For Fairness in Education, an NGO which backed teachers, was delighted. “Teachers did not raise their voice earlier as they were afraid of losing their jobs. The ruling will boost their morale now,” she said.