No promotion for 32 years, teacher moves high court

Frustrated at the delay in getting a promotion? Consider Madhav Bhalerao, a retired teacher from a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) school. He worked at the Nehru Nagar municipal upper primary school for 32 years without a change in designation.

Bhalerao, a resident of Dombivli, a master of arts with an LLB degree to boot, was posted at the school in Kurla as a “trained teacher” till he retired on February 1 this year.

“Ours was a primary school and I taught all subjects except mathematics,” Bhalerao said.
He saw a glimmer of hope when the corporation issued a notification on July 24, 2007, announcing a time-bound promotion for municipal corporation employees with effect from July 7, 2005.

However, the notification was not implemented in time despite the education officer of the municipal corporation issuing a circular
for the implementation of the promotion scheme by March 31, 2008.

Bhalerao filed a petition in the Bombay high court seeking his right to a promotion. On June 13, 2008, he learnt from the education officer that the scheme could not be implemented as the number of employees entitled to it was too large.

Bhalerao’s petition states that “there was neither a single promotion nor its monetary increment to the petitioner till the present date,” and that as per the scheme, even retired or deceased employees would be eligible for it.

“Under this scheme, everyone with more than 12 years of service would be eligible for a promotion,” Bhalerao told DNA.

“We were told that there were not enough posts of deputy headmaster for which I was entitled, but then I should have at least been given the benefits of the post.”

However, Bhalerao’s “uninterrupted service” was rewarded with no promotion as the scheme was not implemented and he wrote to the Lok Ayukta in January this year and followed it up with a letter to the BMC commissioner in February. Since he received no response, he moved court seeking promotion and benefits.

“There are about 12,000 employees sailing in the same boat as Bhalerao,” said his advocate Yogesh Dabke. The court will hear the case next on November 15.