विद्यालय में निजी-तौर पर नियुक्त किये गये सुरक्षा-कर्मियों का आर्थिक,मानसिक व शारीरिक शोषण

लेखक संजू , फानडर, लक्ष्य-युवाओं को नयी दिशा।

दिल्ली सरकार के सरकारी विद्यालयों तथा विभागों मे लगभग 4500 सुरक्षा-कर्मी निजी तौर पर नियुक्त किये गये है। सरकार व विभाग की सहमति से दिल्ली के 1012 विद्यालयों तथा विभागों मे सुरक्षा-कर्मियों को नियुक्त करने का कार्य / ठेका 14 एजेंसियों को दिया गया। इस प्रकार यह ठेका 14 एजेंसियों को निम्न नियम-शर्तों के आधार पर आवंटित किया गया जिसमे Tender की समय सीमा तथा सुरक्षा-कर्मियों के कर्तव्य व अधिकार भी सुनिश्चित किये गये जो की श्रम कानून को ध्यान मे रखते हुये संविदा बनाई गयी । यह संविदा विभाग द्वारा 2 वर्षों (2011-2013) के लिए आवंटित किया गया तथा संविदा के अनुसार यदि ठेकेदार द्वारा काम सही किया जाता है तो विभाग द्वारा संविदा की समय सीमा दो वर्षों के लिए बढ़ाई जा सकती है जो की विभाग द्वारा दो वर्षो (2013-15) के लिए फिर से Extend कर दिया गयाकिन्तु इसके बाद विभाग के अधिकारियों की ज़िम्मेदारी थी की वे नयी संविदा (Tender) निकालेंगे और उसे विभागीय प्रक्रिया द्वारा आवेदन देने वालों को आवंटित करेंगे जो आवेदनकर्ता विभाग के नियमों की औपचरिकताये पूरी करेगा किन्तु विभाग के भ्रष्ट अधिकारियों और ठेकेदारों ने मिलकर इसी संविदा को दो वर्षों (2015-17) के लिए फिर से बढ़ा दिया गया जिसमे विभाग द्वारा बनाई गयी संविदा के नियमों का उल्लंघन किया गया और विभाग द्वारा लगभग 100 करोड़ रू का अवैध तरीके से ठेकेदारों को आवंटन किया गया इसके अलावा लक्ष्य संस्था द्वारा विभाग मे ठेकेदारों द्वारा सुरक्षा-कर्मियों के आर्थिक,मानसिक व शारीरक शोषण करने के संबंध मे कई बार शिकायत दर्ज कारवाई गई किन्तु विभाग के किसी भी अधिकारी ने ठेकेदारों के विरुद्ध कोई कार्यवाही नहीं की। ठेकेदारों द्वारा सुरक्षा-कर्मियों के शोषण करने के संबंध मे शिकायत शिक्षा विभाग के अलावा कई संबन्धित विभाग मे भी लिखित मे शिकायत दर्ज की गयी इसके अतिरिक्त शिक्षा मंत्री,श्रम मंत्री को भी लिखित मे दर्ज कराई गयी किन्तु ठेकेदारों के विरुद्ध किसी विभाग व मंत्रालय ने कोई कार्यवाही नहीं की। लक्ष्य संस्था द्वारा सूचना का अधिकार कानून द्वारा सूचना प्राप्त की गयी जिसमे पता चला कि सुरक्षा-कर्मियों को रु-10,257 /- मासिक वेतन सुनिश्चित किया गया है किन्तु लक्ष्यसंस्था द्वारा अलग-अलग समय पर तीन बार सुरक्षा- कर्मियों को मिलने वाले वेतन व अन्य सुविधाओं को लेकर Survey किया गया जिससे यह जानकारी प्राप्त हुयी कि-

1. ठेकेदारों द्वारा इन्हे 3500 से 4500 मासिक वेतन दिया जाता है जबकि इनसे हस्ताक्षर 10,257 के Voucher पर करवाये जाते है। (प्रत्येक सुरक्षा-कर्मी के वेतन से ठेकेदार द्वारा औसतन 4000 रू काटे गये। वर्तमान मे लगभग 4500 सुरक्षा-कर्मी स्कूलों और विभागों मे नियुक्त है जिससे ज्ञात होता है कि वर्ष 2011 से 17 तक ठेकेदारों और विभाग द्वारा 100 करोड़ से भी अधिक का घौटाला किया गया जो कि शिक्षा विभाग का अभी तक का सबसे बड़ा घौटाला है।)

2. संविदा के अनुसार ठेकेदार प्रत्येक सुरक्षा-कर्मी को वेतन ECSया CHEQUE द्वारा ही दिया जायेगा जबकि सुरक्षा-कर्मियों को वेतन नकद दिया जाता है। 

3. इन्हें P.F. की सुविधा भी नहीं दी जा रही है। कुछ सुरक्षा-कर्मियों से जानकारी मिली कि उन्हे ठेकेदारों द्वारा जो P.F. नंबर दिया गया है वो website पर उपलब्ध नहीं है।

4. अधिकतर सुरक्षा-कर्मियों को E.S.I कार्ड की सुविधा भी नहीं दी गयी है।

5. अधिकतर सुरक्षा-कर्मियों को सिविल-डिफ़ेन्स और फायर फाइटिंग सर्विसिस का प्रशिक्षण नहीं दिया गया जो कि संविदा के अनुसार अनिवार्य है।

6. इन्हें विद्यालय व अपनी सुरक्षा के लिए ठेकेदार द्वारा टार्च, लाठी,बल्लम आदि भी नहीं दी गयी है। जो कि संविदा के अनुसार अनिवार्य है।

7. इन्हें माह मे एक भी छुट्टी नहीं दी जाती है जबकि संविदा के अनुसार माह मे 26 दिन कार्य करेंगे।  

लक्ष्य संस्था के पास सत्यापित साक्ष्यों की सूची-

1. सूचना के अधिकार कानून द्वारा प्राप्त जानकारी जिसमे स्कूलों ने लिखित मे दिया है की उनके स्कूल मे नियुक्त सुरक्षा-कर्मियों को ठेकेदारों द्वारा 4500 रू मासिक वेतन दिया जाता है। वो भी Cashदिया जाता है।

2. सुरक्षा-कर्मियों द्वारा लिखित मे बयान दिया है जिसमे उन्होने ठेकेदारों द्वारा किये जा रहे शोषण के बारे मे लिखा है।

3. संस्था द्वारा वर्ष 2013 से किया गया सर्वे।

4. संस्था द्वारा वर्ष 2013 से शिक्षा विभाग , शिक्षा मंत्री व अन्य विभागों मे समय समय पर कि गयी लिखित रूप मे शिकायत।

5. संस्था के पास शिक्षा विभाग द्वारा जारी किये गये Tender कीप्रति जो संस्था ने सूचना के अधिकार कानून से प्राप्त की।

6. संस्था के पास शिक्षा विभाग द्वारा स्कूलों को online भेजे गये Circular / Order की प्रति ।

Granting some rights is denial of other rights : Cases of Trilokpuri and Noor Nagar

 The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 has communicated and executed free and compulsory education to children between 6 and 14 years of age but the question before the government and concerned body is about the actual performance of the Act on the ground. No doubt the Act has communicated the right to education and hope for literate future generations in communities, especially amongst underprivileged sections of the society. However the attainment of the free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 is still not only an unsettled ambition but has also opened the gateway to deny the educational rights of some children.

A Social Volunteer is teaching a group of children

An important question here is how a granted right can open gateway to deny the educational right? Herbert Kaufman has rightly said “when the people rail against red tape, they mean that they are subjected to too many constraints, that many of the constraints seem pointless, and that agency seem to take forever to act.” This Act has created many constraints that restrict children from accessing education. One of them is age restriction - the free and compulsory education is restricted to only ages between - 6 and 14 years with age wise class allotment. On the former theme many of the scholars have written, the denial of free education before 6 years of age as well as after 14 years of age but restricted number of activist and scholars have raised the issue of the age wise class allocation or in red tape words “age appropriate class”. This provision has raised the question of quality education and created a loop hole to deny the educational right by using the age factor. The concerned person for the admission in primary school asks the parent to go for admission in upper primary school even if the child wants (or better fit) to take admission in primary school. A live example took place a few days back when I went to enroll one drop out child in Noor Nagar primary school where the teacher denied admission because of his age, which is 14 years old. The school teacher not only denied the admission on the ground of unjustified logic of over age and half cooked rule of Right to Education Act but one teacher said “there is no option to get admission in any school and only way to do tenth is by getting admission in an open school”. The irrational statement did not end here; he wrenched the dream of the mother by putting a figure of 6000 rupees to get admission in open school in such a cash crunch situation. The parents belong to Noor Nagar pahadi slum community and migrated here from Uttar Pradesh. A similar incidence happened 4 months ago with the same child when I went with his mother to enroll the child in Sarvoday Baal Vidyalay, Noor Nagar but they denied admission on the ground that the date of admission was over. When we met the principal of the school, he used disrespectful words and asked us to leave the room. I emailed a complaint letter regarding the incident to the Deputy Director of Education of south Delhi but no action has been taken.

Children are engaged in drawing activities 

I have been working with ABC… Campaign since 2012 and we have enrolled around 30 children from the slum community in and around Jamia Millia Islmia, New Delhi. Amid these mainstreaming activities we often faced problems with the process of admission with children being denied admission on red tape grounds although some children have successfully enrolled. Recently one more heart wrenching story came to our notice - a child has been denied admission by many schools of Trilokpuri area only because she has gone through an open heart surgery and no school wants to take the risk of admitting her though she has been coming to a Learning Centre started by ABC Campaign in collaboration with Foundation for Equal Citizenship in the same areas. We are now trying to enroll her in a nearby school as her parents have re-gathered courage to provide her education.  

All these incidences highlight the hidden lopehole of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. School administration and staff are using the age factor as a tool to avoid the burden of admissions of children from underprivileged background; in other words this awarded right is denying the right of many children by using its own rule of the Act. This doesn’t mean rights should not be given but the matter is to reduce the denial of the right through critical analysis and amendments. Anil Sadgopal, an educationist has rightly said “it is a fraud on our children. It gives neither free education nor compulsory education. In fact, it only legitimizes the present multi-layered, inferior quality school education system where discrimination shall continue to prevail.”  

       

Hamari Basti - Our Neighbourhood - a network to improve lives in Delhi's slums

Hamari Basti is a community platform for exchanging local stories of struggle, innovation and sustainable survival in Delhi’s unorganized and informal settlements. We start with neighbourhoods like Trilokpuri (east Delhi) and Jamia Nagar (southeast Delhi), which are densely populated localities in the outskirts of Delhi that are flooded with migrants from nearby and faraway regions. While there are many reasons for people specifically migrating into these regions, many of them are Muslim as they either don’t find homes for rent or purchase in more mainstream localities, or simply feel safer here in the growing communal atmosphere of India. The localities however have limited space and are now bursting due to overpopulation. There is no restriction on construction, and hardly any planning or civic sense among the residents due to a relative lack of education. The government authorities too have neglected the area on infrastructure due to various reasons.

The migration, however, continues to swell the population, not only putting more pressure on the resources, but also creating socially harmful elements that make the locality extremely chaotic and unhealthy to live in. A dominant Islamic identity and prolific religious practice creates the overall picture of a so-called Muslim ghetto. Religious preachers and local politicians mobilize the community on its religious identity, and never introduce any idea of social change or reform. The nearby university, rather than playing any role of social uplifment, only helps in further deterioration. Thus, the locality today is civic nightmare to live in.

The residents have hardly any hope or expectation from the govt. authorities or religious/political leaders to do anything constructive or initiate any new ideas that could transform the place. But, can some progressive individuals take initiatives to bring some fresh ideas here? For example, can the youth be motivated or mobilized towards (a) creating awareness about their rights and obligations as citizens of Delhi and India, (b) developing work skills and finding employment opportunities in the area, (c) creating community spaces where people could meet, share their problems and find some respite, etc.

Some of us (residents) would like to start an initiative or experiment where some of the above ideas could be tested. We wish to begin by meeting regularly (weekly or fortnightly) in groups that are not very big, and comprise of professionals in various fields (law, social work, media, health, education etc.) to see what small steps can be taken to address some of the local issues. We invite you to be a part of this initiative and tell us how you would like to participate.