HC anguished over non-payment of MCD school teachers' wages

Anguished over teachers working for east and north Delhi municipal corporations not being paid salaries for over two months, the Delhi High Court today suggested to the civic bodies to hand over their schools to the AAP government if they cannot pay the wages of the teachers. Shocked that the teachers of the schools run by the two civic bodies were paid wages only till November last year, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said "this cannot be countenanced". "What! You have not paid them since November? You cannot treat teachers like this. This cannot be countenanced.

How can you expect the teachers to do a service if you do not pay them? If you cannot pay your teachers, hand over your schools to the Delhi government," the court said. It went on to add why the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated in 2011, of two of them have to "go with a begging bowl each time salaries, be it of teachers or safai karamchaaris, have to be paid". The observations came after the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) said it had "paucity of funds" due to non-implementation of the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission recommendations by the AAP government. The court, thereafter, listed the matter for further hearing on March 8 and asked the Centre and Delhi government to inform it why the commission's recommendations have not been implemented and who is the custodian of funds that are to be released to the three corporations. The bench was hearing an NGO's plea seeking contempt action against the EDMC and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) for alleged violation of the high court's January 5 direction to clear all arrears of the teachers within a month. NGO Social Jurist, represented by advocate Ashok Agarwal, has contended that the salaries have not been paid to EDMC and NDMC school teachers from December last year. The high court's January 5 decision had come on the NGO's PIL highlighting non-payment of salaries to the teachers of EDMC and NDMC schools.

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