Guwahati, Feb. 2: Around 3,000 computer teachers in Assam's schools will be rendered jobless on June 30.

Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today told the Assembly that the computer teachers will lose jobs since the Centre has withdrawn funding for the scheme under which they were appointed.

During zero hour, Sarma said computer teachers were recruited for 3,532 schools under the state government's Rajiv Gandhi Computer Literacy Programme and the central scheme ICT (Information and Communication Technology)@Schools for five years, which ends on June 30.

He said around 500 teachers will be absorbed under a new scheme but the rest of the teachers will lose their jobs.

The ICT@Schools was introduced in government schools in Assam during 2009-10 while the computer literacy programme was launched in February 2004. These schemes were introduced to achieve widespread computer literacy at the school level.

The minister cited financial constraints for discontinuation of the services of these 3,000 teachers.

Sarma said if the state government had to retain all the computer teachers by paying them a monthly salary of Rs 10,000, it will have to incur an additional annual expense of Rs 36 crore. At this moment the government is not in a position to bear the additional financial burden, he added.

"We will have to bear a huge financial burden after the Pay Commission recommendations are implemented from April and on account of provincialisation of educational institutions. Therefore, despite having sympathy for the computer teachers, I cannot give them any assurance," Sarma said.

He said the government will try to relocate the teachers under some other scheme but any decision can be taken only after the next pay commission comes into effect and the new provincialisation act, which will tabled in the House on March 2, is passed.

Sarma said the government had provided 10 computers per school but many of them have been stolen and it is not feasible to appoint night watchmen in all schools. "We are considering setting up a common computer centre for five schools to address the problem," he said.

During question hour, forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma told the House that the Bamboo Mission has "flopped" in the state and paper mills are closing down due to a lack of bamboo, the main raw material of the paper industry.

Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami suggested that Brahma should consider ordering an inquiry if she believes there had been anomalies in implementing the mission.

Many legislators, cutting across party lines, expressed concern over the forest department suspending the earlier allotment of stone quarries and for crops damaged by wild animals. Brahma replied that her department would soon float tenders for fresh allotment of quarries.