The Allahabad High Court on Saturday ticked off as many as 1.76 lakh shiksha mitras who had been given the post of assistant teacher, allegedly in violation of all rules and regulations. It was a historical occasion for the Allahabad High Court which opened on a Saturday for the judgment to be delivered.
The Allahabad High Court on Saturday ticked off as many as 1.76 lakh shiksha mitras who had been given the post of assistant teacher, allegedly in violation of all rules and regulations. It was a historical occasion for the Allahabad High Court which opened on a Saturday for the judgment to be delivered.
The order has dealt a major setback to the state government. The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) could face a severe backlash from the aggrieved teachers in the 2017 Assembly elections.
The shiksha mitras were appointed under a 1999 scheme of the state government as a quick-fix method to take care of the huge shortage of teachers at the basic education level, especially in the rural areas. The SP government had sought to grab political mileage by giving the shiksha mitras government jobs as assistant teachers.
However, the decision was challenged in the High Court by teachers who had passed the teachers' eligibility test (TET), prescribed by the National Council for Technical Education (NCTE) as a mandatory qualification. There were very few among the shiksha mitras who had this qualification.
The Allahabad High Court had upheld this argument and ruled in favour of the TET-passed teachers. But, the state government took the matter to the Supreme Court, which in turn asked the High Court to settle the matter.
A three-judge full bench headed by the Chief Justice DY Chandrachud delivered the judgment in this vexatious matter on Saturday, bringing the long-standing controversy to an end.
The High Court made it clear that the 'shiksha mitras' did not have the requisite qualification and thus could not be absorbed in government service as regular teachers.
Another crucial argument which sealed the fate of 'shiksha mitras' was that the state government had unilaterally amended NCTE rules and also the Right to Education Act to grant them regular employment. The court ruled that only the Centre could amend the provisions of central acts and rules.
Who are shiksha mitras?
The shiksha mitras were appointed in villages by a committee under the district Magistrate (DM) from among residents of the area on the basis of merit without any competitive exam or interview. Their appointment is contractual and they were paid Rs 2,250 honorarium per month. The SP government soon after coming to power in 2012 decided to absorb the shiksha mitras as regular teachers. In 2014, 58,800 of them got appointed in regular service. The next year, about 73,000 were similarly absorbed. But before the rest of them could get government jobs, TET-qualified teachers took the matter to the court.
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