Duty hours must be adhered to: State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

*College students to get Rs 7,000 as hostel fee subsidy

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: School and college teachers will have their salary cut if they attend to any activities not in the line of their duty during office hours. And this rule also applies to all other government employees as well.

This is the message which State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has got across at a meeting with the teaching fraternity here on Wednesday. The Minister said, “Since you are salaried government employees getting salaries from the public’s tax, your duty for the public interest should come first. You’re free to do whatever you want after the duty hours. Even if any teachers or health department employees come to meet me during his/her duty hours, he/she should get his/her salary cut. Every employee of the government needs to adhere to his/her duty hours.”

The Minister alleged that there has been a drastic fall in the intellectual thought process on various issues plaguing the State. Citing the issue of CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) as an example, the Minister said, “There has been no meaningful debate and intellectual-level seminars on the CAA. What is mostly seen on the issue is emotional outburst. This is not the only issue that has not been delved deep into. There’re many other issues that have not been discussed thoroughly in the State.”

The Minister said this during his meeting with the principals of government and provincialized colleges of the State on the subject of ‘hostel fee subsidy’. Sarma stated, “Generally, hostel fees of a student studying in a government or a provincialized college come around to Rs 14,000 annually on an average. Right now we’re going to provide 50 per cent subsidy i.e., Rs 7,000 per head to around 20,000 students. We’ll deposit the amount directly in their personal bank accounts in the first week February this year. We’re going to raise the percentage of subsidy from next year till the waiver of hostel fees becomes a reality. From the next financial year, we’re trying to bring the students of medical and engineering colleges also within the hostel subsidy scheme.”

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