Kohima, September 26 (MExN): Kohima, September 26 (MExN): Principal Director, Directorate of School Education, Thavaseelan K sent a letter to the President, Nagaland Adhoc Teachers’ Group (ANATG 2015 Batch), explaining why the Government cannot take up service regularization as demanded by the group.
In the letter, making reference of the ultimatums served by the ANATG on August 18, 2022, July 21, 2022, August 28, 2018 and March 20, 2020, he stated that “the issue of regularisation of their adhoc/contract service has been referred to P & AR and has been taken up by the Cabinet several times.”
“It may be mentioned that by High Court Order dated 28/07/2017, the High Court suspended operation of P&AR’s O.M. No AR-5/ASSO/98 dated 04/08/2008 and 11/08/2016 which regulates regularisation issues. Consequent to this, P & AR restrained Departments from sending proposals for regularisation till the matter is resolved by the Court,” the letter read.
The Department of School Education, however, re-submitted a Cabinet Memo in the case of 1166 Adhoc Teachers for direction of the Cabinet on the issue and the Cabinet in its meeting August 29, 2018 “decided that till the court matter is fully resolved, the teachers cannot be regularised.”
Further, the Cabinet in its meeting dated October 3, 2018, reiterated its inability to regularise service of the 1166 Adhoc teachers but decided that they would be given scale pay with 6th ROP of 2010.
The letter also stated that a Writ Appeal was filed by the State against the Gauhati High Court’s Order dated August 3, 2018, which was dismissed by the Division Bench on February 7, 2019.
Despite that, the DoSE on receipt of representation from the ANATG in September 2021, referred the matter to the P & AR which then conveyed that “as a onetime measure, irregularly appointed employees who had completed 10 years of continuous service as on April 4, 2006, can be regularised as per Supreme Court Judgement passed on April 4, 2006. Hence the Department was advised to identify such employees.”
Meanwhile, instances/documents of regularisation had been cited by the group—“Home Department’s Order No SAB-4/4/97( Pt-III) dated 11/09/2018; Nagaland Public Works Department’s Order No.E-IN-C/Estt-2/Provisional/2021-2022 dated 30/03/2022; Education Department, Sikkim Government’s Gazette No 27/ADM/EDN dated 09/11/2021, the matter was reprocessed.”
As service regularization issues are restrained by judicial orders, the matter was submitted to the Chief Secretary and to authority concerned and the Department was advised to refer the matter to P & AR, Justice and Law and Finance Department, it said.
Accordingly, it said that the matter was resubmitted and the P & AR replied that “The High Court in its Judgment and Order dated 03/08/2018 passed in W.P. (C) No. 145 (K) 17 directed the State Government not to regularize any person on the basis of mere completion of 03 (three) years of continuous service on contract/ad-hoc basis. The Judgment was subsequently upheld by the same Court in its Order dated 07/02/2019 passed in W.A. No. 16 (K) 2018. In view of the above said judicial pronouncements, the proposed regularization of service is not feasible at this juncture,” the letter read, quoting extracts from the P &AR.
As directed by the Chief Secretary, the Department has also sought legal opinion of the Advocate General, Nagaland and Law and Justice Department for which reply is awaited, it added.
The Principal Director, as such, requested all the adhoc teachers “to resume their normal duties immediately, failing which disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against defaulters as deemed fit.”
