New Delhi, Feb. 4 -- The Supreme Court today came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government for indulging in what it termed as "unfair practices" and subjecting primary school instructors to a form of 'begar' (forced labour) by paying them a paltry fixed honorarium of Rs 7,000 per month for over a decade.
A Bench, comprising Justices Pankaj Mithal and Prasanna B. Varale, directed the State to pay an honorarium of Rs17,000 per month to all such part-time contractual instructors/teachers appointed in upper primary schools, with effect from the financial year 2017-18, and to clear the arrears within six months.
The Court held that the honorarium, fixed in 2013 for an 11-month contractual period, could not have remained stagnant for years ...