Can’t decide on fate of teachers: Haryana govt

Haryana government on Friday informed the Punjab and Haryana high court that it has not been able to decide about the solution, as directed by the high court, as to how to retain the 3,206 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers selected in 2000 and the selection set aside by high court last year.

The state government submitted that it was now for the court to decide the matter. The single judge bench of the high court had earlier set the selection aside.

After hearing state government’s response, the division bench headed by justice Jasbir Singh adjourned the case for next hearing to July 15.

These teachers were selected during chief minister Om Parkash Chautala’s regime in 2000 but found illegally selected by the high court in January this year.

Finding the selection to be “vitiated, though not fully”, the single judge on January 8 had ordered preparation of fresh merit list within four weeks to ter minate the undeserving serving teachers.

But when the single judge order was challenged before the division bench headed by justice Jasbir Singh and the court had observed that throwing out such a large number of teachers after over 13 years’ period would affect their families and the state government should come up with a formula to grant them relief.