An award-winning teacher from Ahmedgarh is among 6,640 computer teachers of the state who have long been waiting for Sixth Pay Commission benefits. For them, Teachers’ Day comes with a reminder of the long-pending service issue.Recruited to teach computer education in government schools from 2005 onwards and regularised in 2011, the teachers are still waiting for several benefits that they say should have followed their regularisation, including the benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission, allowances and other service-related entitlements.Amritpal Singh, popularly known as Pali Khadim, is a government computer teacher from Ahmedgarh. His contribution to education has been recognised at the national level. Amritpal received the National Teachers Award from the President, a senior fellowship from the Union Ministry of Culture and the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Award 2025.His recognition, however, has not changed his service status.Amritpal, along with many of his peers, continues to seek the implementation of pay and other benefits applicable to regular government employees. The teachers were initially recruited under the Punjab Information and Communication Technology Education Society (PICTES). A government notification approved regularisation of eligible computer teachers from July 1, 2011, and appointment letters were subsequently issued.The teachers say that despite their regularisation, they have not been given the full benefits of regular government service. Their demands include pay-commission benefits, dearness allowance (DA) and other allowances, medical and service benefits, provisions for families of teachers who die in service and promotion-related benefits.Similar concerns have been raised by teachers’ unions for years.Amritpal said the government’s position was that computer teachers continued to be under the Punjab ICT Education Society. “The state government says we are under the Punjab Education Society and, therefore, the Sixth Pay Commission is not being implemented for us. We were recruited in 2005 and regularised in 2011. Even after so many years, we are waiting for the benefits available to other regular teachers,” he added.The issue has remained in litigation. Computer Teacher Union Punjab president Gurwinder Singh said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had passed an order in favour of the teachers but the state government then approached the Supreme Court.“We want the government to implement the benefits due to teachers who have been serving in government schools for years,” he added.The dispute is not new. Earlier reports have recorded the teachers’ demand for pay-commission benefits and other provisions of regular government service.The union also raised the issue of medical reimbursement, financial assistance to families of deceased teachers and other service benefits.The background of the computer teachers’ cadre goes back to the state’s push to introduce computer education in government schools. The teachers were recruited through PICTES and initially worked on contract before their services were regularised. The regularisation order stated that eligible teachers would be regularised in PICTES from July 1, 2011, and provided for a basic pay scale. Subsequent government correspondence also dealt with allowances for the regularised computer faculty.For Amritpal, Teachers’ Day carries a different meaning. While his work has been recognised through some of the country’s major education and literary honours, he continues to wait for what he considers a basic part of his service as a government teacher.