– Dipta Joshi (Mumbai)

Malik: unjustified directive

The state’s incumbent mahayuti coalition government (BJP, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party) has aroused the wrath of teachers of private unaided (independent) schools. Its December 22 diktat that unaided school teachers discharge election duties in the on-going local government elections covering 288 councils and nagar panchayats has been opposed by them, and private independent schools have moved the high court.

Although a major chunk of local government elections has been completed, polls to 29 municipal corporations in the state’s Mumbai and Pune regions remain pending with polling scheduled for January 15. The back story is that last month for the first time ever, the state government issued a circular directing teachers of unaided private schools (of Mumbai and Pune region) to report for election duty training. The circular bluntly states that teachers failing to show up for training and election duty will be liable for punitive police action.

“The government has some justification for directing government and aided school teachers to do election duty as their salaries are paid by government, and they could be termed government employees. But they can’t force private unaided school teachers to do likewise as their salaries are not paid by government. Moreover, most private school teachers were already on vacation on December 22, and in January, they will be busy with exam preparations and cannot be involved in election work,” says Bharat Malik, founder, National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA), former president, Private Unaided School Managements Association (PUSMA) and founder, Arya Gurukul Group of Schools.

While s.159 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, permits the Election Commission and its officials to requisition teachers of government and aided schools to discharge election duties, private unaided education institutions had hitherto remained exempt since they are registered and affiliated by the State, not established and/or funded by the State.

In 2019, in Unaided Schools Forum (USF) vs. State Election Commission, a division bench of the Bombay high court had ruled that teachers and non-teaching staff of unaided private schools cannot be called for election duty since they are not covered under s. 159 (2) (IV) of the Representation of People Act. The Act is only applicable to staff of an institution established by or under a Central, Provincial or State Act, or to schools controlled, or financed wholly or substantially by the Central or state government.

Nevertheless in Maharashtra, the state government has a tradition of bullying teachers of private unaided schools to discharge election duties. Last year, the government began to collate manpower data and had sent directives to unaided schools to register staff for poll duty. However when unaided schools resisted the directive, the government dropped the matter.

Last October in a pre-emptive move, several representative organisations of private schools including the Unaided Schools Forum (USF), PUSMA and Independent English Schools Association (IESA) representing more than 300-member institutions, filed for an order in the Bombay high court pleading exemption for their teachers from election duty. However even as the application is pending hearing, teachers who failed to attend the election duty training programmes have received showcause notices from government.

“Government is blind and unappreciative that pulling out teachers — whether of government or private schools — for election duty interrupts the education of millions of children. Education is a fundamental right of all children. Despite this and clear directions of the Supreme Court and the Bombay high court, district collectors and state and local government officials are sending notices to teachers to report for election duty. Teachers’ organisations are citing previous court judgements, but they are nevertheless being threatened with criminal cases filed against them. The police too are harassing teachers despite clear direction of the courts,” says S.C. Kedia, secretary, Unaided Schools Forum.

Ranged against bureaucrats who aren’t aware of court judgements, several teachers who did not attend election training sessions after receiving notice, have briefed lawyers to file writ petitions against the state government.