Provoked by the Opposition BJPs charges of Congress not fulfilling promises made in the election manifesto,Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Tuesday announced regularisation of all 6,318 teachers appointed by parents teachers associations (PTAs) during the earlier Congress regime. Those dismissed by the previous BJP government will also get their jobs back. The BJP,on its return to power last time,had accused the Congress of committing serious irregularities in the appointment of PTA teachers. Many teachers were dismissed as they reportedly did not meet the eligibility criteria. Also,law was not followed while appointing them,BJP had claimed. In the Assembly,Virbhadra accused the previous BJP government of victimising PTA teachers,whose agitation was crushed. BJP MLA Jairam Thakur,however,claimed: Its wrong to say that the BJP government victimised them. Instead,the Congress government exploited them politically and even did not follow reservation roster for SC,ST and OBC. While replying to Thakur,BJP MLA Randhir Sharma and Congress MLA Asha Kumari,who wanted to know the governments policy on PTA teachers regularisation,Virbhadra said: All PTA teachers will be regularised and those removed by the BJP government,after its return to power,would be taken back. Initially,they would be engaged on contracts but within one-and-a-half years,they would be regularised. The government has decided to minimise their contract periods. Earlier,the Assembly witnessed heated exchanges between the Opposition and the Treasury Benches on governments skill development scheme which aims at giving direct cash benefits to unemployed youths. Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri,while replying to a question asked by four BJP MLAs,claimed: This is first time in history of the state that the government has come out with an innovative scheme to benefit matriculate youths in the age group of 18 to 35 years. The norms of the scheme have been relaxed to enlarge its scope. The scheme worth Rs 100 crore will eventually be Rs 500 crore at end of five years, he added.
