Over 1,000 may face axe as state prepares joint merit list

PANCHKULA: The Haryana government is in a fix over the ongoing selection process of 9,870 primary (JBT) teachers, the process of which is yet to be finished even as posts were advertised in November 2012.

Nearly 1,000 of the 7,900 teachers who were given appointment letters last month may face the axe as government moves ahead to prepare a joint merit list by combining two selection lists, as ordered by Punjab and Haryana high court on May 8.

While talking to HT, additional chief secretary of education department PK Das claimed that it was still premature to say how many will lose their jobs in the process. However, a senior department official confirmed that a replacement of at least 1,000 names is expected in the new list, which will be sent to Haryana’s legal department for opinion in a day or two.

WHO WILL BENEFIT?

The ones who have been protesting against the state government for ignoring them in the selection process will stand to benefit. On Tuesday, over 200 such JBT teachers blocked all entrance and exit gates the education department building.

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

As many as 9,870 posts of primary teachers (JBT) were advertised in November, 2012. The merit list was based on Haryana state teachers eligibility test (HTET), academic qualification and interview. Accordingly, nearly 9,455 candidates came in selection list as most of them were those who cleared HTET in 2011. Six months after advertisement of posts, another HTET was held in that was cleared by 2,514 candidates. They filed a writ in Punjab and Haryana high court pleading that they should be given chance to apply for 9,870 posts because the state did not conduct HTET before in 2012. Their plea was accepted in HC, which directed the state government to fill the requisite posts by accommodating these 2,514 candidates and accordingly prepare joint merit.

Meanwhile, number of other litigations hampered the appointments due to continuous stay over overall appointment.

In an interim order on April 20 last month, the HC vacated stay over the appointments and asked it to fill the seats but not beyond what was advertised in November 2012. The state education department, however, acted in hurry and gave appointment letters from the initial selection list of 9,455 candidates though it had to be prepared based on joint merit by accommodating 2,514 candidates. Das asserted that the department will plead before the high court during next hearing on May 24 that they should be allowed to fill all candidates selected in first and second merit list so that no one suffers because of legal wranglings. “Total selected candidates of both the lists are close to 12,700 and all can be adjusted because of pending vacancies in the department," he said.