01-03-1996 Displaced Teachers! Whose Liability Are They?  --- Editor's Mail

Dear Sir,

This is the sixth year of our forced exile. Three Governors and an equal number of Prime Ministers have entered the scene but precious little has been done to mitigate the sufferings of the unfortunate displaced migrant teachers of Govt. Grant-in-aided institutions of the Valley. The State administration too has changed three Commissioners of Education and a battery of other officials during this period but no one has cared to look into their cases with an open mind.

Repeated representations to the State authorities, the Central H.R.D. Ministers, and even to the National Human Rights Commission, have vanished into the thin air. Those who have faith in the judiciary and the law of the land, have been waiting for the judgement on a writ petition for the last four years. Hopefully, justice though delayed, may not be denied to them.

The case of the displaced teachers of the Govt. Grant-in-Aided institutions is a clear case of dis crimination. Whereas the State Govt. has accepted the liability of similarly placed teachers of one of the Govt. Aided institutions alongside the displaced State Govt. Employees, the denial of salary to them amounts to a deliberate attempt to harass, intimidate and liquidate them by starvation.

In a recently pronounced judgement of far reaching consequence, the Supreme Court has upheld the judgement of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and held that State Govt. responsible for negligence that had caused the death of a person following a landslide, directing the State Govt. to pay compensation to the heirs of the victim.

The Administration of Jammu & Kashmir State which has already accepted the liability of its displaced employees for having failed in its duty to provide safety and security in the Valley, should, before long, take steps to ensure that the employees of other Govt. Aided institutions who have also been rendered homeless are paid their salaries on the pattern of similarly placed persons in accordance with the law of the land, taking a cue from the judgement of the Supreme Court.

Noida UP

K Devindra

DISCLAIMER:

The views expressed in the Article above are Abhijit Chakravertty’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article.

Courtesy:  K Devindra and March 1996 Koshur Samachar