Mumbai: In a significant relief to
thousands of primary teachers working in government-run
schools, Bombay High Court today said that they cannot be
forced to do non-teaching jobs.
Under the service rules governing the primary
teachers, government has no power to rope them in for
non-teaching tasks such as surveys, division bench of Justices
Ajay Khanwilkar and R M Savant held.
Maharashtra Rajya Pratahmik Shikshak Sangh had
challenged the state government`s 1997 circular, whereby
teachers were roped in for survey of Below-Poverty-Line
families. The court, however, set the circular aside today.
Teachers can be used only for election-related work
and census, court said.
Even if some other law was found to give the
government the power to use teachers for non-teaching jobs,
teachers shall not be used on school-days, court said.
-PTI
