Payment for work got lost in translation?

No pay for 21 educators who translated 13,000-page Tamil document related to Jayalalithaa's disproportionate assets case into English

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's disproportionate assets case may be proceeding quite well for her, but the same cannot be said for some important individuals in the case.

Twenty-one teachers were appointed since 2004 as translators, scrutinisers and coordinators to render Tamil documents to English. However, they have not been paid a single rupee for the job they completed in 2005.



The participants have accused the law secretary of mismanagement leading to non-payment of dues.

Documents in possession of this reporter show that the Registrar General High Court of Karnataka, R B Budihal had issued directions to the secretary of government Law Justice and Human Rights Department, Vidhan Soudha on July 22, 2009, but till date, no one has been paid.

Professor Dr R Srinivasan, principal of RC Government College, was a coordinator during the exercise said, "We (teachers and professors from various institutions) were deputed to ensure the 13,000-page Tamil documents were translated into English. We completed the work in about six months and the same was submitted to city civil court, when A S Pachhapure was the special judge at the sessions and civil court. We have done our duty, but have not received any remuneration."

Where's the money?
He had to shuttle from Palace Road to court and then to his house at Indiranagar on a regular basis during the project. He is now retired and is depending on his remuneration. "I am too old to run from pillar to post.

Whenever I go to enquire whether translators have received dues, officials in the law department ignore me," he said.

Professor Gracelet Stanley, who was part of the project and is currently the principal of a reputed college in the city said, "I want to know where the money has gone? They fixed the fee at Rs 20 per page. Budihal had sent a letter to the law secretary directing him to pay us, but we have been running to the law department only to be given lame excuses. I hope we get the amount by the time I retire."