Jamshedpur, May 10: The East Singhbhum district administration has taken strong exception to the district education department’s delay in paying salary to the teaching staff of minority schools in the district.

It has directed the department to pay the teachers within the next two days. It has also sought an explanation from district superintendent of education (DSE) Poonam Singh why the salaries were not disbursed earlier.

These teachers, according to deputy commissioner Sunil Kumar Burnwal, had not recieved their payments since November 2002. A delegation of these teachers met the deputy commissioner this morning and sought his intervention.

The delegation complained to the deputy commissioner that barring East Singhbhum, minority teachers in all other districts had received their salaries.

They requested the deputy commissioner to help them out as they were under severe financial constraints due to non-payment of their salaries.

“I have sought an explanation from Singh why the salaries of these teachers were not disbursed,” Burnwal said.

According to the deputy commissioner, the district education department had received an Rs 2 crore last month for disbursement of salaries of the teachers. “But the DSE did not make the payments on the ground that the amount she had received would not be sufficient to pay all the teachers. But I have directed her to seek instructions from the human resources development ministry and make the payments,” the deputy commissioner said.

District officials said the deputy commissioner also spoke to the director of state primary education regarding the matter.

“He assured me that he would send a detail instructions on the matter tomorrow,” Burnwal.