Supreme Court Grants Relief for 10323 Tripura Teachers

Supreme Court Grants Relief for 10323 Tripura Teachers

Guwahati: In a positive turn of events, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted a two-year extension to 10,323 school teachers whose services were terminated by Tripura High Court in 2014, terming the recruitment rules “unconstitutional”.

It needs to be mentioned that the apex court had upheld the high court verdict in March 2017 and their jobs were terminated from December 31.

As per sources, Tripura law secretary Datamohan Jamatia said a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, heard the state government’s petition on extending the teachers’ tenure.

He further added saying “The bench accepted our plea and extended their services till June 30, 2020. The state government was asked to submit details of action taken to publicize its sponsorship of BEd and DEd courses to equip eligible candidates in taking up the vacant teaching positions."

The court also asked the state government to stick to the Teachers' Eligibility Test for recruitment and encourage students and guardians to complete BEd and DLed well in time so that they can apply for teaching jobs.

It may be noted that the hearing of affidavits from the state and central governments will be held after four months.

Commenting on this and expressing his contentment regarding the verdict, Bhaskar Deb, secretary of Left-backed teachers’ organization Amra 10,323, hailed the Supreme Court verdict and efforts of the BJP-led state government.

“The state government deserves a big thanks. They pleaded before the Supreme Court to extend our job tenure and we got the extension,” he said.

Further welcoming the apex court verdict, the state BJP general secretary Pratima Bhowmik said saving the jobs of the 10,323 teachers was among the party’s pre-poll promises.

However, on the other hand, state CPM secretary Bijan Dhar said, “The 10,323 teachers need a permanent solution and this is just a temporary relief.”

PCC vice-president Tapas Dey said the apex court judgment had given relief to teachers apprehending termination every day. “But the state government should come up with a policy to give them regular jobs before their ad hoc period runs out,” he said.

The 10,323 teachers were inducted on an ad hoc basis for six months by the erstwhile Left Front government. After the high court terminated their service in 2014, the Left Front government challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, which upheld the high court verdict in 2017.

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