‘Niyojit’ teachers entitled to salary on par with regular teachers: Patna HC

The Patna high court on Tuesday ruled that “Niyojit” teachers, who were hired on a consolidated pay, were entitled to salary on a par with regular teachers working in various government schools in Bihar.

The Patna high court on Tuesday ruled that “Niyojit” teachers, who were hired on a consolidated pay, were entitled to salary on a par with regular teachers working in various government schools in Bihar.

The Patna high court on Tuesday ruled that “Niyojit” teachers, who were hired on a consolidated pay, were entitled to salary on a par with regular teachers working in various government schools in Bihar. (Getty Images)

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay, while applying the principle of equal pay for equal work, held that “Niyojit” teachers were entitled to the same salary as regular teachers who were appointed before new rules came into existence in 2006.

The decision has brought cheers to around 4 lakh government teachers who are getting lower pay than the regular teachers.

The court passed the judgement on a bunch of petitions including that of the Bihar Secondary Teachers Struggle Committee, which challenged the Bihar government’s 2006 rules for appointment of teachers in government schools.

The state government had framed rules for recruitment of teachers to government schools, right from the primary level, on a consolidated pay in 2006, but later also gave ‘pay scale’ to them. However, the new pay scale was much lower than what regular teachers got.

Referring to a recent Supreme Court judgement that upheld equal pay for equal work principle, the petitioners submitted that they should also be given the same salary and benefits as the regular teachers as they were doing the same work and had same educational qualification.