Kolkata, Sept. 15 -- The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of a revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) being used to collect teachers' data for their transfer to schools of their choice under the rationalisation exercise.
Justice Amrita Sinha directed the state to refrain from taking any steps under the SOP for collecting data from teachers for selecting schools to which they may be transferred. The interim order will remain in force till December 18 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The order followed a petition by the All Bengal Teachers' Association and secondary school teachers challenging communications issued by the District Inspector of Schools (SE), Paschim Medinipur, on September 10 and the DI (SE), Hooghly, on August 24 on rationalisation of surplus teachers.
The court questioned the legal basis of the SOP, noting that it carried neither a date nor the signature of its issuer and that no authority was taking responsibility for it. It further noted that the State had failed to place before it any provision of law under which the SOP could be followed.
Petitioners said there was no provision to identify surplus teachers in high, secondary and higher secondary schools, claiming some on the list were the only pass-subject teachers in their schools.
The state was asked to file affidavits within four weeks citing the legal basis for declaring the teachers surplus. Petitioners can reply within two weeks thereafter.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.