Tonk:
For the last 23 years Jagdish Sharma has been ringing the bell which summons children to school. Though the students from this village primary school may have moved on to better things, the man who has been ringing this bell has been earning a mere Rs 20 per month since 1986.
A temporary peon in a government school in Rajasthan, Jagdish has made representations to many officials for a pay hike but because he is poor and illiterate nobody has bothered to increase his pay for the past 23 years. "I was brought in to clean and ring the bell. I'm on Rs 20 a month, I was hoping it would be increased but nobody listens to a poor man like me. So now, finally I have approached the court," he says.
On the rolls Jagdish is a jaldhaari or somebody employed to serve water but his services are also used for cleaning the school premises and washing utensils when required. And though the Principal and students vouch for Jagdish's dedication and sincerity, nobody has bothered to take up his case, despite several pleas to senior officials.
Ramprakash Bairwa, the Principal of the upper primary school in Balapura village, Tonk - where Jagdish works, says, "He has been working here since 1986 and he was getting Rs 20 a month but now according to department rules his name has been struck off the records.
Removed from his job after 23 years on a pay of Rs 20, Jagdish is now finally asking the court for justice. Laxmikant Sharma, Jagdish's key lawyer says, "The high court has said that till a decision is not taken in Jagdish's case he cannot be removed from service."
The Gehlot government had recently taken a decision that those in temporary government jobs for the past 10 years will be automatically regularised but obviously these good intentions have bypassed the lives of people like Jagdish.
A temporary peon in a government school in Rajasthan, Jagdish has made representations to many officials for a pay hike but because he is poor and illiterate nobody has bothered to increase his pay for the past 23 years. "I was brought in to clean and ring the bell. I'm on Rs 20 a month, I was hoping it would be increased but nobody listens to a poor man like me. So now, finally I have approached the court," he says.
On the rolls Jagdish is a jaldhaari or somebody employed to serve water but his services are also used for cleaning the school premises and washing utensils when required. And though the Principal and students vouch for Jagdish's dedication and sincerity, nobody has bothered to take up his case, despite several pleas to senior officials.
Ramprakash Bairwa, the Principal of the upper primary school in Balapura village, Tonk - where Jagdish works, says, "He has been working here since 1986 and he was getting Rs 20 a month but now according to department rules his name has been struck off the records.
Removed from his job after 23 years on a pay of Rs 20, Jagdish is now finally asking the court for justice. Laxmikant Sharma, Jagdish's key lawyer says, "The high court has said that till a decision is not taken in Jagdish's case he cannot be removed from service."
The Gehlot government had recently taken a decision that those in temporary government jobs for the past 10 years will be automatically regularised but obviously these good intentions have bypassed the lives of people like Jagdish.
