HC questions another education scheme for ‘favouring select few’
HC while dealing with various petitions, had questioned the manner in which chairpersons/ members of various education commissions and boards have been appointed.
Questioning yet another policy of the Akhilesh Yadav government in the education sector, the Allahabad High Court has sought details of the beneficiaries of Uchch Shiksha Gurwatta Samvardhan Protsahan Yojana (USGSPY), while pointing out that the provisions indicated that the scheme was meant for only a select few and lacked lacked proper budgetary support.
The USGSPY was introduced in 2012-13.
“It appears that the entire scheme and the funding has been done without application of mind and there appears an attempt to favour a chosen few. The scheme talks of assistance being provided to self-finance courses for only such teachers, who were qualified…but is completely silent about the mode or manner of appointment of such teachers,” a Division Bench of Justices Arun Tandon and Ashwani Kumar Mishra said.
While fixing August 21, as the next date of hearing in the matter, the Bench also asked if the “selection was made in violation of Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India” then “how can there be financial assistance to such a person by the state?”
The order came on August 7 while hearing a petition filed by Deepmala Singh, through her counsel Y K Sinha and Akshat Sinha. The petitioner is employed in a college, affiliated with Chaudhary Charan Singh University, as a lecturer in a professional course and has contended that she has been left put of the the scheme with out any reasons.
“On the other hand, there is no fixed criteria to decide who should be chosen under the scheme,” said her counsel Y K Sinha.
As per information provided to the court by the state government, the USGSPY envisages that at least 125 teachers from 13 degree colleges, which had been accredited with ‘A’ by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, were to be given Rs 46,000-odd every month towards improvement in their teaching standards. Besides some financial assistance was also to be provided to such teachers for pursuing self-financed courses. The said scheme has been provided with Rs 1 crore budget, which the court said was inadequate.
The Bench, after perusing the record, directed the secretary, higher education, to inform the court during the next hearing “the name of colleges and teachers, who have been benefited under the scheme as well as the name of president/ secretary of the said colleges.”
Earlier, the high court, while dealing with various petitions, had questioned the manner in which chairpersons/ members of various education commissions and boards have been appointed.
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