The interests of PTA teachers will be protected-Dhumal

Regularise all PTA teachers- Congress, CPI-M

SHIMLA: The appointment of more than 10,000 impromptu teachers by various Parents-Teachers Associations (PTA) in number of schools and colleges in the hill State by the previous Congress Government is becoming a big political question here. The BJP which was in opposition then was continuously alleging that Virbhadra Singh government had filled these posts by its party sympathisers and cadres. The so called associations of parents and teachers were formed overnight and people close to party were inducted as teachers and paid salaries from the grant-in-aid given to these PTAs.

Now after coming to power the BJP MLAs and other leaders of the party are demanding an immediate enquiry and dismissal of these teachers taken under the PTA quota as they hardly fulfil the required qualifications. But the opposition Congress and even CPI-m are opposing this and are instead demanding a regularisation of these teachers. The leaders of PTA teachers, who had protested outside the Vidhan Sabha and were addressed by Congress leaders, met Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and demanded a permanent solution of their problem on Wednesday.

Chief Minister told the delegation that the State Government would be making all out efforts to protect the interests of the Parent and Teacher Association (PTA) appointees by providing them best of the opportunities to prove their merit however he said the government has decided not to discontinue the grant to PTA teachers till the further orders.

Chief Minister said that his government was concerned over the PTA appointments made during the preceding regime where in a number of cases; the prescribed norms for appointment had been ignored depriving eligible and well qualified and deserving candidates of their legitimate right to such appointments. He said that to protect the interest of the PTA appointees, the government now has constituted committees at college, senior secondary and lower level educational institutions to scrutinize the record of all such appointees with a view to ascertain their eligibility to particular post. He said that the state government would work in a fair and unbiased manner by maintaining transparency in its entire functioning.

He said the State Government would be filling up about 18,000 posts of teachers in the State during current financial year and recruitment process for the same would be initiated soon. He said that the eligible PTA teachers needed to avail of such golden opportunity as record number of posts had been made available where they could apply and prove their worth by passing the entrance tests and successfully face the interview board.

However in the PTA rally outside the Vidhan Sabha it was decided that no candidate will now appear for the interview and all the teachers should be regularised. The rally was also addressed by senior Congress leaders including the former Minister Kaul Singh who said his party would have regularised them if voted back to power.

CPI-M supported PTA agitation

Meanwhile the State CPM and the DYFI today extended their support to the agitation of the teachers appointed by the Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) and called upon the state government to accept their demands and regularise their services. Their regularisation will not be a problem with thousands of vacancies available in different schools of the state, party’s state secretary Rakesh Singha said in a release here.

He said the problem instead was due to the neoliberalisation policies being pursued by the previous government, which appointed people on contract basis instead of appointing them on a regular basis, thereby creating huge anomalies. The DYFI said it would join the agitation of PTA teachers if they were not regularised by the BJP government in the coming year.

Kanwar Yogendra Singh

KY Singh is a political observer and a senior journalist with an interest in a diverse set of issues related to Himachal Pradesh and other mountain states. He lives in Shimla.