Allahabad HC orders UP officials, politicians to send their kids to government schools

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary to ensure that government servants, elected representatives and members of judiciary "and all other persons who get any benefit or salary from state exchequer or public fund" send their children to primary schools run by state Board for Secondary Education.

Passing the judgement, Justice Sudhir Agarwal also ruled that "penal provisions" be laid down for those who violated the order.

"For example, if a child is sent to a private school not maintained by the UP Board," an amount equivalent to that paid in the form of fees by the erring officials or elected representatives "shall be deposited in state exchequer every month so long as such education in other kind of primary school is continued".

"Besides, such person, if in service, should be made to suffer other benefits like increment, promotional avenues for a certain period, as the case may be", the court said, adding "this is only illustrative.

The appropriate provisions can be made by government so as to ensure that ward(s)/child/children of persons, as detailed above, are compelled necessarily to receive primary education in the primary schools run by the Board".

The order came on petition filed by Umesh Kumar Singh and others who had challenged the process of selection of Associate Teachers for government-run primary and junior high schools in UP for the years 2013 and 2015.

The court pulled up the state's Basic Education department for "mindless, negligent, casual amendments" in rules pertaining to appointment of teachers, besides "defective Government Orders" issued from time to time which paved way for "multifarious litigations resulting in not only delay in appointment of primary teachers but also a very heavy pressure on this court".

"If a little care would have been there on the part of responsible officers in making legislations for making recruitment, huge litigations resulting in lakhs of vacancies in primary schools maintained by the UP Board would not have been caused", the court remarked.

Observing that government servants would ensure that state-run schools functioned well if they send their children to such educational institutions, the court asked the Chief Secretary to "take steps within six months so as to make the aforesaid directions applicable from the next academic session" and file a compliance report thereafter.