Teachers’ transfer drive carried out arbitrarily: HC

Tribune News Service

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, January 23

In a major embarrassment for the state, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted that the teachers’’ transfer drive is apparently being carried out at the whims and fancies of the authorities concerned without taking into consideration the students’ paramount interests.

Justice Harnaresh Singh Gill has directed Deputy Director, Senior Secondary Education, to remain present in the court for explaining the anomalous situation arising out of posting teachers not commensurate with the subject students’ strength.

Action beyond comprehension

It is beyond common comprehension as to how authorities go into such a deep slumber and prefer posting of disproportionate number of teachers at schools where the number of subject students is either nil or minimal, as against no number of teachers at the schools where the strength of the subject students is quite healthy. —Justice Harnaresh Singh Gill

Elaborating, Justice Gill asserted that it was beyond common comprehension as to how the authorities concerned went into “such a deep slumber” and preferred posting disproportionate number of teachers at schools, where the number of subject students was either nil or minimal. On the other hand, subject teachers were not posted in institutes with “quite a healthy” strength of students.

The assertions came after Justice Gill went through a petition filed against the state and other respondents by Uttam and another petitioner, challenging transfer and other orders. Appearing before the Bench, their counsel, among other things, submitted that the transfer drive had “various flaws” with disproportionate representation of the teachers in comparison with the students in more than a few schools.

The counsel added that several teachers were transferred out following the drive conducted by the respondent-department under the rationalisation policy, but their replacements were made in only in some schools. In an attempt to substantiate the contentions, no less than two “tables” with details of teachers and students were placed before Justice Gill’s Bench.

After going through the documents and hearing the arguments, Justice Gill observed: “A perusal of a table would show that in as many as eight schools, disproportionate number of subject teachers is available against the total number of students. In some of the said schools, three teachers each have been posted against no students. The data in the other table further shows the sorry state of affairs, where as against quite good strength of the students, no subject teachers have been posted.”

Justice Gill also issued notice of motion to the state and other respondents. Before parting with the order, Justice Gill asserted that the petitioners would not be relieved of their present postings till the next date of the hearing.

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