Delhi govt delaying 7th pay commission implementation in pvt schools: Plea in HC

A private unaided schools association has moved the Delhi High Court alleging that the AAP government was delaying the implementation of the Seventh Central Pay Commission's recommendations in such institutions causing hardship to teachers, students and parents alike.

The plea, which is listed before Justice Sunil Gaur for tomorrow, was earlier listed before five judges who recused from hearing it on the ground that someone in their families was studying in schools that were part of the association.

The petitioner association, Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools, has claimed in its plea that while government and aided institutions are implementing recommendations of the 7th central pay commission (CPC) immediately, the same benefit was being delayed when private entities were concerned.

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.

The association has in its plea challenged a recent April 2018 decision of the Delhi government's Directorate of Education (DoE) that barred several private schools from implementing the 7th CPC, while allowing others to go ahead.

This 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, the petition claimed.

"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.