Tamil Nadu: Rs 4,102 crore released, but census honorarium yet to reach teachers

CHENNAI: Teachers across Tamil Nadu, who were engaged in the first phase of the population census exercise, are yet to receive their honorarium, even though the Directorate of Census had reportedly released Rs 4,102 crore for states for the exercise in August itself.

The delay has left teachers waiting for the first instalment of the payment for work completed more than a month ago.

In Nagapattinam, the teachers who participated in the first phase have submitted a representation to the Collector seeking the immediate release of their pending honorarium.

The representation stated that the teachers had completed the assigned census work well ahead of the deadline but were still awaiting payment.

The first phase of the census-related works was conducted from August 1-31, with teachers deployed across rural and urban areas of the State.

Teachers said that they had carried out the work as an additional responsibility alongside their regular teaching duties, and travelled to the locations allotted to them.

They completed the assigned work by August 20 itself, following directions from the district administration.

As per the government provisions, the census enumerators are entitled to an honorarium of Rs 9,000 for completing the first phase, apart from the training allowance.

Despite the work being completed several weeks ago, the first instalment has not reached the teachers, who were expecting to be paid soon after completing the assignment.

Teachers have urged the authorities to ensure that the funds already released for the census exercise are transferred without further delay.

They said that the pending payment would provide some financial relief, particularly during the festival season when household expenses tend to increase.