Teachers' regularisation bill yet to reach him, claims LG

NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday rejected Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's claim that a bill on regularisation of guest teachers was pending with his office, saying a solution could be found within relevant laws rather than "public posturing".

Meanwhile, Sisodia expressed anguished over a fresh advertisement issued by the Lieutenant Governor's office regarding vacancy of teachers, which was not shown to both the Delhi Law Minister and Education Minister, and did not give any directions for regularisation of guest teachers.

He also urged Baijal not to destroy all that the AAP dispensation had built so far, asking him not to "override" the decisions of the elected government.

In a letter to Sisodia, the LG's office said, "The bill has not yet been presented to him (LG) along with the requisite reports as required under the Transaction of Business of the Government of NCT of Delhi Rules. Thus, it would not be correct to say that the bill is pending for his consideration."

The LG said the bill was passed by the Delhi Assembly, despite his advice to reconsider the decision to introduce the bill as it was not in accordance with the constitutional scheme of governance.

"A solution to this problem could be found within relevant laws rather than public posturing," he said.

Baijal's response comes in response to a letter by the deputy Chief Minister on Tuesday in which he had claimed that the guest teacher bill was pending with the LG office, while seeking his assent to the proposal.

Meanwhile, Sisodia, in his second letter to Baijal, said, "I am extremely upset and disturbed if this is true. As an elected representative of the people of Delhi and as the Education minister, I have worked and night for the past two and a half years to improve the quality of education in government schools in Delhi."

"When I ask the officers why this file was not shown to me or the teacher recruitment issue not discussed with me, then I'm told that your office (LG's) has given them clear instructions that no files regarding the issue of teacher recruitment have to be shown to the elected government," he alleged.

"I'm writing to you (LG) not to destroy all that we have built so far. Kindly do not override the decisions of the elected government," he said.

Earlier this month, the Delhi Assembly had passed the Regularisation of Services of Guest Teachers and Teachers Engaged Under the 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Bill, 2017.