GO on hiring non-teaching staff quashed

Justice D Hariparanthaman while allowing a batch of as many as 209 petitions held that, “As far as these posts like sweeper-cum-scavengers are concerned, the said G.O specifically states that those posts shall be outsourced and the expenditure shall be met by the aided schools. Thus, it amounts to indirect withdrawal of the grant-in-aid to those sanctioned posts and thus the same is violative of Section 14 and 19 of the Act read with Rule 15 (1) and 11 of the Rules.” 

The judge also held that, all the private schools—minority and non-minority—are receiving aid from the Tamil Nadu government for the posts sanctioned by the Director of School Education.

Whenever vacancies arise in those sanctioned posts due to death, retirement or resignation, the private schools could fill those vacancies as per the provisions of the Act. For filling up these posts, the Act and Rules do not contemplate seeking of prior permission from any authority. 

The vacancies shall be filled immediately. If there is any delay in filling up the vacancies in respect to teaching as well as non-teaching posts, it would result in serious prejudice and damage to the educational interest of downtrodden people who enter the portals of these aided schools. 

The judge also observed that once the post is sanctioned, the District Educational Officer (DEO)/ District Elementary Educational Officer DEEO is the competent authority to sanction grant. 

Hence the DEO/DEEO cannot abdicate their statutory functions. Justice Hariparamantham also offered six weeks to comply with the direction of approving the appointments of the non-teaching staff against the sanctioned posts.