Chandigarh: Around 90 outsourced counsellors working in Chandigarh govt schools are facing salary deductions ahead of the upcoming autumn break, even as they continue to demand regularisation and an end to wage cuts during school vacations.Engaged through an outsourcing agency, the counsellors receive a net salary of around Rs 40,000 monthly (after provident fund deductions from a gross of Rs 42,000), but complain of frequent payment delays and zero wages during vacation periods.The UT administration maintains that outsourced staff are ineligible for vacation pay because their services are not required when schools are closed, despite paying full salary for June following the summer break.The financial penalty comes at a time when student mental health has gained national priority through CBSE affiliation norms, the Centre’s Manodarpan initiative, and a Supreme Court-appointed National Task Force mandating stronger school counselling mechanisms.There are only 90 counsellors servicing 114 govt schools in the UT, and staff report being routinely redirected to non-counselling duties, including physical education, mathematics, and physics substitution work.Counsellors also recalled their role during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they undertook 52 days of counselling work alongside distributing ration and emergency relief assistance.Though counsellors received vacation pay in 2016 and during the autumn break in 2023, the inconsistent application of rules has left them facing fresh deductions, with winter break (Dec 25 to Jan 7) looming as another financial hurdle.“There are 114 govt schools and around 90 counsellors. In some schools we have a proper room for counselling, but the question is what happens to the counsellors’ employment conditions when counselling itself is being treated as an important part of the school system,” said a counsellor.Repeated representations to senior education authorities and the UT administration seeking regularisation and a consistent pay structure have produced no change in service conditions.
