Cuttack: In a significant ruling, Orissa High Court has cleared the deck for the state government to prepare seniority list of primary school teachers and effect promotions for deserving teachers as per the Elementary Cadre Rules which were introduced for school teachers in 1997. A Division Bench of Justice BP Das and Justice BK Mishra quashing all previous interim orders of the High Court and State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) yesterday directed the school and mass education secretary to fix seniority of the primary school teachers who were declared government servants by strength of two government resolutions of 1989 and 1991. Directing the department to go ahead with promotion of deserving teachers as per the seniority list, the High Court also made it clear that if any promotion has been effected in the meanwhile basing on the seniority list so prepared earlier, the same shall be treated as non-est.
The case inter alia pertains to promotion of some school teachers that had been pending ever since Elementary Cadre Rules were introduced for school teachers in 1997. While primary school teachers were declared government servants in 1989 and minor school teachers got that status in 1991, a gradation list of all teachers was prepared in 1997.
Accordingly, the government in 2009 came out with a notification to promote at least 18,000 teachers from Grade 4 to Grade 3 to fill up vacant post of headmasters in several schools. This notification was challenged by the minor school teachers in the SAT which in turn directed the government not to consider the promotional avenues of the teachers who were declared government servants in 1989. PTI