7th CPC: HC seeks Delhi govt reply on plea over alleged delay in implementation in pvt schools

The Delhi High Court today sought response from the Directorate of Education (DoE) on a plea by a private unaided schools association alleging that the Delhi government was delaying the implementation of the Seventh Central Pay Commission's recommendations in such institutions causing hardship to teachers, students and parents.

Justice Sunil Gaur issued notice to the DoE and the Lieutenant Governor on the plea but refused to stay a April 2018 decision of the DoE that barred several private schools from implementing the 7th CPC, while allowing others to go ahead.

The counsel for the petitioner association, the Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools, said the matter has far reaching consequences and private schools were entirely dependent on tuition fees.

The counsel said the April 13 order of the government would also contribute to the delay in implementation of the recommendations, apart from leading to exodus of teachers from the schools, which have been barred for the time being from hiking the pay of their staff.

Delhi government standing counsel Ramesh Singh said none of the schools is a party to the case and asked how can the association approach the court.

He said the private schools of course have to pay the teachers as per the 7th CPC recommendations.

The petition, filed through advocate Kamal Gupta, has claimed that the government and aided schools can draw sustenance from the exchequer for the payments to be made towards increased salaries and allowances, but private institutions are entirely dependent on fees received from students to meet such liabilities.

"Needless to emphasise that any delay in the implementation and retrospective implementation of the CPC's recommendations leads to huge problems not only for the private unaided recognised school, who have to collect funds for such implementation, but also leads to huge resentment among parents who are made to pay the arrears and amongst the staff and teachers who are deprived of their entitlement for no reason," the plea said.

It has claimed that earlier the government had delayed the implementation of the 6th CPC and "the practice, trend and pattern of belatedly implementing CPC recommendations retrospectively, every time is not only illegal and arbitrary, but also discriminatory and results in grave hardship to the schools, the teachers and to the parents and students.