In relief to teachers working in the Basic Education Department, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday has approved their transfer in the middle session. The Court amended its own decision in the Divya Goswami case in this regard and approved it for the current session only. Along with this, they are also allowed to ask for transfer on medical grounds.
The Single Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar passed this order on the application filed by the State Government and the Department of Basic Education for amending the order. Earlier, the High Court had approved the Government’s guideline on inter-state transfers but the Court prohibited the transfer of any teacher in the middle session.
Additional Advocate general M.C. Chaturvedi said that the Government has prepared the transfer list which is not being implemented due to the Court’s order.
In the current session, when the schools are closed due to coronavirus, transfer in the middle session will not interfere with the teaching work. On the contrary, its benefit will be to schools where the posts are vacant. There is a problem in achieving the goal of primary education due to not having teachers in such schools. The results of various programs run by the government during the coronavirus outbreak have been found to be better in schools where there are sufficient number of teachers. The Court has approved this argument and has approved the transfer of middle session only for the current session.
The petitioner, Advocate Naveen Sharma, also did not oppose it. The Court said that the Government should strictly follow its guide while approving the transfer on medical grounds.
On November 24, while hearing the application for amendment in the order, the Director General and Secretary of Basic Education Council, Prayagraj, were summoned. He was asked to tell what efforts the Government is making to bridge the gap between the children of schools in urban areas and those living in rural areas.
Director General Vijay Kiran Anand and Secretary Pratap Singh Baghel, who appeared on the Court’s order, gave detailed information about the programs being run by the Government to achieve primary education goals during the Covid-19 pandemic.