Case One: Shiv Shyam, teacher of former secondary school Barauna Saidabad, passed away on October 30, 2013. Madhuri Devi, wife of Shiv Shyam, was paid family pension, GPF etc. by the Basic Education Department, but refused to give gratuity saying that the deceased had not given the option of retirement at 60 years. When Madhuri Devi petitioned against this, the High Court ordered payment of gratuity on 20 May 2022.
Case Two: Shobha Singh’s husband was the headmaster of the former secondary school Vaidwar Koraon. He died on June 3, 2019. Basic Education Department made all the payments but refused to give gratuity due to lack of alternative. On Shobha’s petition, the High Court had ordered payment of gratuity on July 28, 2022, citing the Usha Rani case of the Supreme Court.
Years after the demise of council teachers, orders have been issued to get gratuity to their dependents. As per the orders of the High Court, Special Secretary to the Government Awadhesh Kumar Tiwari has issued letters to Basic Education Officers on January 10 for payment of gratuity to 630 deceased teachers across the state.
The retirement age of teachers working in primary and upper primary schools of Basic Education Council is 62 years. The rule is that if a teacher opts for retirement at 60 years, he is paid gratuity but if he opts for retirement at 62 years, he does not get gratuity.
There were many teachers who did not give the option of retirement at 60 years and they passed away. In the case of Usha Rani, the Supreme Court had ordered payment of gratuity in such a case. After which hundreds of petitions were filed in the High Court and on the basis of the order of the Supreme Court, the High Court has ordered payment of gratuity. District President of Primary Teachers Association Devendra Kumar Srivastava has demanded early payment to the dependents. BSA Praveen Kumar Tiwari said that payment action is being taken as per the orders of the government.