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. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130512/jsp/frontpage/story_16888265.jsp