No faculty in Degree College: High Court pulls Himachal Govt & Higher Education Department
Himachal Pradesh High Court has taken serious note of the deplorable state of affairs with regard to the filling up of vacancies of teaching and non-teaching staff at Govt. Degree College, Kupvi, of District Shimla.
A Division Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice, Tarlok Singh Chauhan, and Justice Virender Singh, passed this order, on a petition taken up suo motu, as Public Interest Litigation, by the High Court, on the basis of a newspaper item that appeared in daily newspapers on 25.05.2023.
Taking cognizance on a news report bench stated that the Govt. Degree College Kupvi was started in July 2022 and 72 students have been enrolled in the college. Though the college has five peons and a clerk, however, no teacher has been appointed thus far.
There has been no regular teacher throughout the session. PTA has hired two private teachers for political science and economics, but they are not good enough. The teachers were deputed from nearby Govt. Degree College, Nerwa, but they did not join at all.
The news item further stated that Kupvi College is not having its own building and classes were started in a storeroom of a nearby Senior Secondary School.
Taking cognizance of the newspaper report, High Court sought a reply from the Chief Secretary Govt. of H.P., Principal Secretary (Education), Director (Higher Education), and Principal of Degree College Nerwa.
After perusal of the reply from the respondents, the Court found that the news item, as published is absolutely correct and reflects the deplorable state of affairs with regard to the staff posted at Government Degree College, Kupvi.
All eight posts including that of Principal and Lecturers in English, Hindi, Political Science, and Economics, and two posts of lecturers in Commerce all are lying vacant.
The Court was shocked to notice that even the posts of nonteaching staff are lying vacant. As against the 18 sanctioned posts, 13 posts are vacant.
Taking serious note of the situation, the Court expressed its anger and observed that can this College really be termed to be a College when there is practically no teacher. The opening of college at the behest of the Govt. cannot just be a gimmick or an election stunt as the people’s faith and aspirations of the students are grounded in such announcements.
The Court observed that Kupvi is located in a remote area of Himachal Pradesh and it is, therefore, incumbent upon the Government to make the College fully functional.
The Court directed the respondents to ensure that by the next academic session, all the posts of teaching and non-teaching staff are filled up and College is made fully functional, that too in a building, which would at least have a semblance of a College building.
The Court also expressed its displeasure as to why it took the concerned Principal over a year to even identify the land for the construction of a College building. The Court took judicial notice of the fact that in the urban areas of the State, there is clearly overstaffing.
In the given facts and circumstances, the Court has directed the State Government to post those teachers, who have a longer stay in urban and semi-urban areas, to the Colleges, like one at Kupvi. The respondents have been directed to file Status Report on 26.06.2023.
