Dispur plea to retain teachers |
A STAFF REPORTER |
Guwahati, May 11:
The Assam government will move Gauhati High Court to reconsider its
ruling to sack illegally appointed teachers in the state on
“humanitarian” grounds.
Official sources told The Telegraph
that the high court, in its ruling on Wednesday, termed the Assam
cabinet’s decision to regularise around 20,000 teachers illegally
appointed in between 1991 and 1996 as illegal and unconstitutional.
The cabinet
decision was taken twice during the erstwhile AGP government as well the
ruling Congress government regimes in 2000 and 2005 respectively.
Teachers were appointed for lower primary and middle English schools.
A single judge
bench of the high court, comprising Justice Hrishikesh Roy, gave the
verdict in response to a writ petition filed by Bharat Chandra Sarkar
from Bongaigaon district and Abdul Kayum from Karimganj district. The
petitioners had challenged the 2005 cabinet decision.
Education minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an
official function here today, said the government would approach a
division bench of the high court to reconsider its ruling on
humanitarian grounds.
“We have full
respect for the verdict of the single judge bench. I do not want to
comment whether the teachers were appointed legally or illegally. Since
the teachers have already completed several years in service, it will be
a very difficult and sensitive task for the state government to sack
them now. Most of the teachers have families with school or
college-going children. So, the government will appeal to the division
bench to reconsider the ruling purely on humanitarian grounds,” Sarma
said.
Sarma said the
present government was leaving no stone unturned to remove illegal
practice and corruption in the appointment of teachers.
He said the
government has conducted the Teacher Eligibility Test twice to appoint
teachers for lower, upper primary and high schools in a fair manner. He
claimed that there is not a single report of unfair practice while
conducting the TET. Clearing the TET is compulsory for any candidate in
Assam who aspires to become a teacher.
The minister said
the Assam Public Service Commission has published the advertisement to
fill up the posts of directors of elementary, secondary and higher
education.
He expressed ignorance about the alleged corruption that took place in appointment of directors of education earlier.
There were reports
that the government had flouted the norms and candidates without having
the requisite qualifications were appointed for the post of director.
|
The Telegraph - 12 May 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment