Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench on Monday held that there is no question of appointing teachers on an honorarium against sanctioned vacant posts in aided secondary schools.The court directed the state govt to frame a fresh policy for temporary appointments against such vacancies until regularly selected teachers become available, with appointees to be paid the minimum of the pay scale attached to the sanctioned post along with admissible allowances.Justice Rajeev Singh passed the verdict while disposing of around 190 petitions, including those filed by Manoj Kumar Singh and others. The court quashed the state govt’s orders dated Nov 9, 2023 and July 8, 2024. While the first order provided for termination of long-serving ad- hoc teachers from the service, the second introduced a policy to re-engage teachers as honorarium teachers at Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per month amid a shortage of teachers in aided schools.The petitioners had been appointed on an ad- hoc basis against sanctioned posts under Section 18 of the UP Secondary Education Services Selection Board Act, 1982, or Section 16-E(11) of the UP Intermediate Education Act, 1921. They had worked for several years and were drawing the regular pay scale attached to the posts.Following the SC’s directions of Aug 26, 2020, the teachers were given an opportunity to participate in the selection process. Some failed to qualify while others did not appear in examination. Subsequently, ad- hoc teachers, appointed after Dec 30, 2000.,were removed under the Nov 9, 2023 govt order.The court pointed out that the sanctioned pay scales for the posts were Rs 44,900-Rs 1,42,400 (Level 7) and Rs 47,600-Rs 1,51,100 (Level 8), making the proposed honorarium of Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 substantially lower than the prescribed pay.Directing the state to replace both govt orders with fresh orders in accordance with law, the court said temporary appointments could be made to ensure uninterrupted teaching until regular teachers were appointed. However, such teachers must receive the minimum pay scale attached to the sanctioned post along with admissible allowances.
