Bansilal Modak at home. Picture by Gour Sharma

Bankura, Nov. 1: A schoolte-acher who took voluntary re- tirement because of illness in 1990, four years before he reached retirement age, is still waiting for his pension.

Bansilal Modak lives in an 8ftX10ft room in Bankura town with his 70-year-old wife Purnima.

With them live a daughter, who did not get married because she had her parents to look after, and a son. Schoolteacher Shibani, 41, earns Rs 1,500 a month but spends over a third of that amount in travelling. Her brother Sanjib, 37, is an insurance agent with no regular income.

“I used to coach students at home earlier but now my vision is failing because of cataract. I also can’t take the strain anymore,” said Bansilal, whose family often survives on a single meal and a helping of puffed rice at night.

Had it not been for the authorities’ callousness, he would have got Rs 10,000 a month as pension. The teachers’ arrears will amount to around Rs 18 lakh, said a member of the All Bengal Teachers’ Association.

When Bansilal retired from Salboni High School in December 1990 because hyper- tension and hernia had taken a toll on his health, he used to draw Rs 3,600 a month. He should have been getting his pension from January 1991.

The retired teacher moved Calcutta High Court in 1996 for the dues, selling off his wife’s jewellery to meet the legal expenses. The same year, the court ordered the government to clear his dies, but he only got Rs 28,954 as gratuity.

However, a new secretary at the government-aided West Midnapore school where he worked took pity on him and tried to speed up his case. Bansilal said it was because of Rabindranath Ghosh’s efforts that he got his provident fund dues last year — Rs 50,032.

The money, however, was spent in no time as creditors came calling at the Modaks’ door.

“We have had to sell all my jewellery and most of the utensils. Now our staple food is rice, salt and green chillies. Frequently, we have only puffed rice for dinner. I can see my husband sinking for want of food,” said wife Purnima.

In school, Bansilal was initially among teachers who had opted for the “contributory provident fund scheme” under which they were not entitled to pension. However, Bansilal had switched over to the pension scheme before retirement.

A government official said the school had not sent his revised papers in two decades. No one would say why the higher education department did not get the school moving despite court orders. In 2003, Bansilal had even moved a contempt petition in the high court because its earlier order had not been followed. But in vain.

School secretary Ghosh said he was doing his best to get Bansilal’s papers ready.

District inspector of schools Santosh Patra said Bansilal could not be granted pension because the school had not returned to the government the employer’s share of his provident fund. “It came to us only last year.”

However, a source in his office said Bansilal’s papers had been gathering dust there too.