Case Summary
EMPLOYMENT; PREPARATION OF ROSTER IN GOVT RECOGNISED
& AIDED SCHOOLS TO IMPLEMENT RESERVATION FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES; Interim
orders issued and Action Taken Reports called. Respondent organized a training
workshop on implementation of reservation for persons with disabilities for
DDEs & undertook exercise of proper maintenance of 100 point roster in all
Govt Aided Schools which were randomly cross checked by the court and
observations for correction provided for Cadre based computation of reservation
instead of identified posts based, as clarified by SC Judgement. ATRs were
examined, found that rosters were maintained and Posts for persons with
disabilities reserved but many were not being filled showing no suitable candidates
found; earlier backlog also remained unfiled. Court inspected and corrected
rosters & this exercise as a result of this case helped raised awareness in
all stakeholders. Order:- Respondent advised to fill up backlog posts in time
bound manner and submit list of persons with disabilities appointed on the
reserved posts and implement reservation in all govt. run and aided schools.
Cases & Rules cited/referred:
1. Supreme Court Judgement in Civil Appeal No. 9096 of
2013 (arising out of SLP (civil No 7541
of 2009 ) titled Union of India & Anr V/s National Federation of the Blind
& Ors,
2. DOP & T’s vide their OM No. 36035/3/2004-Estt (Res) dated
29.12.2015 & amendments to its para
14 & para 15 vide their OM No. dated 3.12.2013, 20.03.2014 and 06.01.2015.
Order/ Judgement
In the Court of State Commissioner for Persons with
Disabilities
National
Capital Territory of Delhi
25-
D, Mata Sundari Road, Near Guru Nanak Eye Centre, New Delhi-2
[Vested with powers of Civil Court under
the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016]
Case No. 4(608)/2014-Wel./CD/ 921-922 Dated: 10.07.2017
In the matter of:
Sh. Tarun Kumar,
A/G-620, Shalimar Bagh,
Delhi-110088 ..…………… Petitioner
Versus
The Director,
Directorate of Education,
Old Sectt., Delhi-110054 ………...…Respondent
Date of Hearing 21.06.2017
Present: Sh. Tarun Kumar, Complainant
Sh. Pawan Kumar, DDE (ASB)
Sh. Sunil Aggarwal, OSD, Distt W-B
Sh. Manjeet Singh Hudda, Superintendent, Education Deptt.
ORDER
The above named
complainant vide his complaint dated 28.03.2014 informed that Delhi Tamil
Education Association, Lodhi Estate advertised various vacant posts but did not
provide correct reservation for persons with disabilities as they did not seem
to be preparing 100 points & 200 points roster. He further stated that in
response to his complaint to the Directorate of Education, Assistant Director
(Education) (Act-II) informed him that the Recruiting Agency had calculated
correct reservation on total sanctioned posts and the backlog vacancies would
be filled later on. The complainant also pointed out that as per Hon’ble
Supreme Court of India’s Order, the reservation is to be calculated on the
basis of cadre strength in place of total sanctioned strength of the posts. He
also pointed out that Jain Girls Senior Secondary School, Dharmpura, Delhi
issued misleading advertisement as it did not mention clearly as to which post
was reserved for persons with disabilities. In his letter dated 21.02.2014,
which is annexure ‘A’ to his complainant, he pointed out that Govt. Aided
Schools in Delhi are not implementing reservation for persons with
disabilities.
2. The complainant requested to issue the following directions
to the Department of Education:-
i) To
reject all appointments of DTEA till reservation of posts for persons with
disabilities is provided including backlog vacancies.
ii) Advertisement in respect of Jain Girls Senior Secondary
School Dharmpura Delhi be cancelled and the post re-advertised with backlog
vacancies reserved for persons with disability.
iii) Marking scheme in r/o of PET, Librarian, Drawing teacher,
Computer teacher, etc may be issued by the Department and Department be
directed to check 100 points roster that correct reservation is provided.
V) Identify the posts on the basis of disabilities and as per
DOP&T’s instructions. The advertisement should contain the approval number
of the concerned DDEs.
3. The complaint was taken up with the respondent vide
communication dated 28.03.2014 followed by hearings. The respondent vide letter
dated 16.04.2014 informed that the matter was taken up with the concerned DDE s
who have clarified the position. Marking scheme in r/o of PET, Librarian,
Drawing Teacher etc has been issued vide order dated 26.02.2014. Direction to
maintain separate rosters for persons with disabilities as per DOP&T’s
instructions was also issued vide circular dated 13.03.2014. The directions of
the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities were circulated vide order dated
10.01.2014 to all the HOS/Manager’s of the Govt Aided Schools vide circular
dated 10.03.2014 for ad- hering and they were directed to advertise the
vacancies only after approval of the concerned DDE of the District. The DDEs were
also directed to monitor reservation for persons with disabilities as per the
guidelines of DOP&T while clearing the recruitment.
4. The respondent vide letter dated 20.08.2014 informed that
as per the direction of this court, a training workshop on implementation of
reservation for persons with disabilities was organised for DDEs on 06.08.2014
after receiving various status reports/compliance reports from the DDEs,
Education Officers/Aided schools.
5. The
office of Commissioner for persons with disabilities inspected the reservation
rosters of 11 aided schools including DTEA School New Delhi & Jain Girls
Senior Secondary School. The observations were brought to the notice of the
respondent. After the hearings, the
respondent submitted ATRs vide letter dated 23.11.2016 and informed that 100
& 200 points rosters were being followed by all the aided schools. The DDE
of the concerned District inspected the roster register for proper maintenance
and all the DDEs certified that 100 & 200 points roster registers were
checked and found correct. Directorate of Education issued clearance for direct
recruitment of 28 PGT, 121 TGT, 62 Assistant Teachers and 16 ministerial staff
in different Govt. Schools out of which 48 posts were identified for persons
with disabilities. The respondent however stated that Sh. Tarun Kumar did not
meet the Deputy Director though he was also contacted on his cell phone. But he
did not respond.
6. During the hearing on 20.03.2017 the representative of the
respondent submitted that 48 vacancies
reserved for persons with disabilities in 21 schools as indicated in Annexure 2
to the submissions dated 05.07.2016 had been arrived. It was based on the reservation roster
register maintained by each school. As had been submitted vide action taken
report on 05.07.2016, the process of
recruitment to fill up those 48 vacancies was at various stages. From perusal of the action taken reports
dated 05.07.2016 and 23.11.2016, it was observed that there was no progress in the recruitment
exercise after 48 vacancies were
identified for filling up by persons with disabilities in 21 schools
which pertained to the period 01.01.2016 and 30.06.2016. Action taken report dated 23.11.2016 also
states that all the D.D.Es of the concerned Distt of Directorate of Education
had certified that 100 and 200 point
roster registers have been checked and found to be correct. It was also observed that the complainant was
supposed to test check the roster of some of the schools to see whether the
same were being maintained properly as per the instructions. However, the
complainant said that he did not go to check the rosters as he was not called for that purpose. The
parties had agreed that the petitioner
shall visit Directorate of Education on 27th March, at 3.30.P.M to
inspect reservation rosters submitted by
some of the schools to satisfy himself and to suggest to the Directorate of
Education any improvement if required.
7. The respondent was advised to submit the following
information/action taken by 31.05.2017.
( i ) Prepare
100 points vacancy based reservation roster registers in respect of all the 211
aided schools in accordance with
DOP&T’s O.M No. 36035/3/2004 Estt (Res) dated 29.12.2005 and subsequent
modifications and produce the same for perusal.
( ii ) Indicate no. of vacancies reserved for persons with different
categories of disabilities indicating
their disability namely, blindness or lower vision; loco-motor disability or cerebral palsy and hearing impairment.
( iii ) Obtain certificate from the concerned Liaison Officer for
persons with disabilities that the instructions issued by DOP&T have been
complied with in accordance with para 28 of the DOP&’s O.M
dated 29.05.2005 in respect of
all the 211 schools.
(iv) Indicate the stage of recruitment exercise for filling up
the reserved vacancies for persons with disabilities in each aided school.
8. It was also pointed out that in order to report proper
compliance, names & addresses of the
person with disabilities appointed against the reserved vacancies also should
be submitted. The respondent was also advised that action to fill up the
vacancies computed as reserved for persons with disabilities on the basis of
reservation rosters in the remaining 190
aided schools should also be initiated within ten days from the date of
receipt of the said proceedings indicating the schedule for completion of the recruitment process. A copy
of the schedule and the instructions that may be issued/may be submitted before
the next date of hearing. The parties were also directed to come prepared along
with the relevant record on the next date of hearing so that the case could be
dispose off.
9. During the hearing on 21.06.2017, the representatives of
the respondent submitted a written statement dated 20.06.2017, the relevant
contents of which are reproduced below:-
In
this regard, the following actions have been taken by the aided school branch:- The
petitioner, Sh. Tarun Kumar was called for the discussion in the aided school
branch in the month of April, 2017. He visited the aided school branch office
and discussion was held with him to sort out the matter.
The
100 point vacancy based reservation roster registers for persons with
disabilities have already been prepared in respect of all 211 aided schools in
accordance with DOP&T’s O.M No. 36035/3/2004 Estt (RCS) dated 29.12.2005.
The Manager/Principal, DDE Zone and DDE District have already given
certificates for checking the same in this regard (file containing such
certificate is enclosed for ready reference).
E-mails
dated 19.05.2017 & 15.06.2017 were sent to all the govt. aided school for providing
the (consolidated) required information. In this regard, reply has been
received from 117 govt. Aided schools and is placed in the enclosed file.
Further, out of the 211 govt. Aided school 14 schools are taken over by the
Directorate of Education (no recruitment takes place in the govt. Aided taken
over schools). The reply from the remaining schools is awaited.
Further
out of the reply received, there are 19 govt. aided schools who have filled the
vacancies of PH through SSC (list of names of such schools enclosed and details
may be seen in the reply of the concerned school placed in the enclosed file).
On examining the above stated replies received from various govt. aided
schools, It has come to the notice that two govt. aided schools namely 1. Guru
Nanak Girls Sr. Sec. School, Gandhi Nagar 2. Kerala Education Society Sr. Sec.
School, Sector-8, R.K.Puram, have got the clearance to fill the vacant posts
and completed the SSC but did not fill the vacancies of PH category citing the
reason that no application was received in respect of PH category. In this
regard directions have been issued to these schools to initiate the procedure
to fill up the vacant posts of PH category.
10. The complainant pointed out that aided schools were not
providing reservation for persons with disabilities as per the direction of
Hon’ble Supreme Court i.e the reservation was not being calculated on the basis
of cadre. He also pointed out that the schools cannot group various posts for
calculating reservation for persons with disabilities. As per him, roster for each post should be
separate, otherwise appointing authorities would reserve the vacancies in their
preferred posts as has been done by ESSES
Baba Nebh Raj Sr. Sec. School by reserving the vacancy of TGT (Sindhi).
11. Upon perusal of the case file and the documents submitted by
the parties during the proceedings of this case, over a period of more than
three years, my observations are recorded in the following paragraphs:
(i) Persual of various Action Taken Reports submitted by the Directorate
of Education ( Aided School Branch), random inspection of the reservation
rosters and training of the concerned officials by the Office of Commissioner
for Persons with Disabilities, reveals that a fairly good amount of awareness
and capacity building exercise has taken been place.(ii) There is improvement in implementation of
reservation of vacancies and preparation of rosters for persons with
disabilities.
(iii) Perusal of the emails/letters containing
information in respect of the concerned schools submitted in pursuance to the
record of proceedings dated 08.05.2017 on the last date of hearing on
21.06.2017. It is observed that while some schools have given the names of
persons with disabilities appointed against reserved vacancies, action to fill up the vacancies
by some schools has taken rather too long. This needs to be expedited in light
of the time frame, fixed for special recruitment drive by Department of Personal
& Training in pursuance to the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in civil
Appeal No. 9096062013. It is expected
that Directorate of Education will ensure that the reserved vacancies are
filled up with persons with disabilities strictly in accordance with the
instructions of DOP&T as the concerned schools will required approval of
the Directorate of Education for filling up the vacancies.(iv) As regards computation of reserved vacancies
and maintenance of rosters, DOP & T’s vide their OM No. 36035/3/2004-Estt
(Res) dated 29.12.2015 explains as to how the reserved vacancies are to be
computed which has to be followed by all concerned. Para 15 of the said O.M
elaborates the procedure for maintenance of rosters to effect reservation. Para
28 of the said OM also provides that Liaison Officer appointed to look after
reservation for SCs STs shall also work as Liaison Officer for reservation
matters relating to persons with disabilities and ensure compliance.(v) After the judgment dated 08.10.2013 of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil
Appeal No. 9096 of 2013 (arising out of SLP
(civil No 7541 of 2009 ) titled Union of India & Anr V/s National
Federation of the Blind & Ors, DOP&T amended para 14 & para 15 of the OM dated 29.12.2005 vide their OM No.
dated 3.12.2013, 20.03.2014 and 06.01.2015.
The said instructions of DOP&T very clearly provide that reservation
for persons with disabilities shall be computed in the Group A posts or Group B
posts on the basis of total no. of vacancies occruing in direct recruitment
quota in all the Group A posts or Group B posts respectively in the cadre. These
amendments were made because prior to the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Judgment, reservation
for persons with disabilities in Group A and Group B posts used to be computed
only against the vacancies that occurred in the identified posts. Para 15 of OM
dated 29.12.2005 was reiterated in the OM dated 20.03.2014 which provides that
separate 100 points reservation roster registers are to be maintained one each
for Group A posts filled by the direct recruitment, Group B posts filled by direct recruitment,
Group C post filled by promotion, Group D posts filled by direct recruitment
and Group D posts filled by promotion. So, DOP&T’s instructions provide for
computing the reservation for persons with disabilities based on a roster to be
prepared for all the posts belonging to one Group of posts and not for each
post.(vi) As far as earmarking a vacancy for a
particular category of disability is concerned the said instructions provide that
the Head of the Establishment shall decide on the basis of the nature of posts,
the level of representation of the specific disabled category in the concerned
grade/post etc.(vii) In view of unambiguous instructions in regard
to computation of reserved vacancies for persons with disabilities, the plea of
the complainant that separate roster should be maintained for each post and
that a vacancy in a particular post should not be reserved as per the decision
of Head of Establishment, can not be accepted. However, this complaint of Sh.
Tarun Kumar has contributed to a better understanding of the provisions for
reservation of vacancies for persons with disabilities and implementation
thereof.
12. In light of the above, the respondent is advised to ensure
filling up of all the backlog of reserved vacancies for persons with
disabilities within a given time frame by all the aided schools and the
establishments under the Directorate of Education, Govt of NCT of Delhi. This
Court has already advised Services Department to conduct a special recruitment
drive for filling up backlog of reserved vacancies for persons with
disabilities in all the Departments/Establishments in the Govt of NCT of Delhi.
The Liaison Officer in each Establishment of Directorate of Education be
advised to ensure strict compliance with the instructions of DOP&T. A copy
of instructions/ directions issued in the matter
13. The respondent is also advised to bring to the notice of all
concerned, in the Directorate the provisions of Chapter XVI of the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 which provide for punishment for
contravention of the provisions of the Act and the Rules & Regulations made
there under by any person.
14. The names, contact number and addresses of the persons with
disabilities appointed against the reserved vacancies be intimated to this
court within 15 days of their joining.
(T.D.
Dhariyal )
State
Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities
