An archaic law formulated in 1972, which governs the dispensation on Gratuity and pension states that the benefits entailed in a Government job can be claimed only after completing twenty years of qualifying service which is absurd in all senses, since most of our creative and talented teachers would opt out of Government services after a mere ten years! The years of repetitive stultifying service under straight jacked norms would cause most talented teachers to fall into a state of depression as a result of not being able to showcase talent and ingenuity. Unfortunately, when such teachers opt for a better job in the private sector, they are told that they don’t deserve to get their gratuity and pension benefits if they resign before their twenty years of service have been completed. This is exactly what someone I know learned to his peril after having served in a Government Aided School in Delhi for more than seventeen years and then being told that he was not eligible to get his Gratuity since he had resigned before completing the mandatory twenty years of service. In this case, I would like to add that he was fed up working within the constricted norms of Government Schools and Aided Schools in Delhi which is why he wanted to opt out because he wanted to progress professionally. My friend learned to my dismay that he had forfeited all the benefits that were due to him because of deciding to leave before the mandatory twenty years under rule 26 of the CCS Pension Rules 1972. The irony is that a person serving in a private organization will receive his gratuity after serving for a minimum of five years, while his friend serving in a Government organization gets nothing! What makes matters even more ironical is that there is a Central Government Gratuity Act that clearly states that under rule 4 that an employee can get his gratuity even if he resigns from service after serving for at least five years of continuous service. This rule however not applicable when serving under a State Government job or a Central Government Job! So we continue to have dual standards and dual rules that are meant to discriminate between privates employees and government employees!
My advice to all those aspiring teachers who want to join a Government Job as teachers is not to do so especially if they plan to leave before the mandatory twenty years. Many of the teachers would have lost their energy and their dynamism much before the twenty years are out! In many cases, jobs in Government Schools offer no scope for intellectual and professional development!
The very norm of completing twenty years in a Government school in order to be eligible to gain benefits of pension and gratuity is dictatorial and constricting in nature and it prevents free enterprise in teachers who are desirous of opting out of a rather constricting system which prevents experimentation and research. What the department of education in Delhi is doing is that it is following archaic laws which are in fact meant to clip the wings of those talented teachers who want to opt out. Moreover, in today’s times when talent is appreciated over sycophancy and nepotism, I very strongly believe that talented teachers should never join a Government Job because of the adage that once in, you are never out!
While the whole world advances, we are still stuck to the norms of rule number 26 of CCS (Pension) rules which are constrictive and meant in essence to prevent upward and lateral mobility of teachers working in Government schools.If working in a Government school entails twenty years of bonded labour, as per the norms of Rule 26 of CCS pension rules which forfeit pension benefits and gratuity benefits, then I would advise all aspiring educationists to not even think of joining a Government as a teacher! If this is my experience of having worked in a Government Aided school for seventeen years, then I would continuously advise all aspiring teachers to never even think of joining a Government school as a teacher. It is better to join a private school where you can at least get your gratuity after working for a minimum of five years.
It simply is not worth joining a government school in India if you intend to leave before the mandatory twenty years of service! My advice to all young aspiring teachers in to thing of better opportunities in private schools where at least you have opportunity for growth , and you can at least earn your gratuity after a minimum of five years of continuous service!
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