Lucknow, Oct 30 The Allahabad High Court has held that keeping teachers employed in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) on contractual terms for years without adequate wages or job security amounts to forced labour, prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution.
Justice Pankaj Bhatia of the high court's Lucknow bench on Thursday observed that the honorarium paid to these teachers was even lower than the prescribed remuneration for semi-skilled workers and described the practice of calling it an honorarium as a "cruel joke".
Allowing petitions filed by Archana Boodh and others, the court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to sanction or create posts for KGBV teachers within four months and bring their service conditions at par with those of regular teachers.
It also directed the authorities to consider the claims of the petitioners and other similarly placed teachers for regularisation in accordance with law, taking into account their educational qualifications and length of service.
The court ordered that, until the government takes the necessary steps, all teachers working in KGBVs across Uttar Pradesh must be paid a monthly honorarium of Rs 17,000 with effect from the date of the judgment.
It further directed that they be extended service-related protection under Section 24(2) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
The bench said the government must frame service conditions for KGBV teachers in line with those applicable to regular teachers up to the intermediate level. It clarified that the directions would apply to all KGBV teachers in the state and not just the petitioners.
The court also directed the government to revise their honorarium or pay periodically to bring it in line with the salaries and allowances of teachers working in government and aided schools in the state.
Clarifying the responsibility for funds, the court said the Centre must contribute its agreed share of expenditure under the scheme. However, the state government cannot refuse to comply with the directions on the ground that the Centre has not sanctioned the funds.
The state may "pay first, recover later", the court added, on obtaining the Centre's share of funds.
Observing that the KGBV scheme aims to provide quality education to disadvantaged sections, particularly girls, the court said this objective cannot be achieved by keeping teachers in prolonged employment insecurity and paying them inadequate remuneration for years.
Such an arrangement, it held, was inconsistent with constitutional principles.
The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme is a central initiative launched in 2004 to provide residential schooling and quality education to girls from disadvantaged and marginalised communities.
