Delhi LG allows teachers' trip, government slams riders

NEW DELHI: Calling the conditions imposed by lieutenant governor V K Saxena on the teachers' training programme in Finland a "fraud upon (sic) the Constitution and the Supreme Court", Delhi government alleged on Saturday that the LG was acting like a "mini dictator" and he had no right to amend the proposal sent by the elected government.
In a statement, Delhi government claimed that the LG "sat" on the proposal for four months and eventually cleared it with conditions after ensuring that it had become "infructuous" since the training was to have been carried out in December 2022 and March this year.
The AAP government's reaction came hours after the LG approved the contentious proposal to send 52 teachers in charge of primary sections of state-run schools with certain conditions.
According to the government, the file for the Finland teacher training programme was first submitted to the LG on October 25 last year but it came back to the chief secretary on November 10 with three objections. It added that SCERT Delhi, the expert body that oversees teacher training activities, had sent its clarifications on the points raised on October 14, but the LG sought two more clarifications and returned the file to the CM on January 9. A detailed reply was sent to by former deputy CM Manish Sisodia on January 20.
"The LG has once again returned the proposal with amendments, in flagrant violation of the Constitution and Supreme Court orders. The LG's actions display a complete disregard and disrespect for the advice of SCERT Delhi," the government said.
It added that the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in its July 2018 order, had clearly said that the LG could not taken any independent decision on any of the transferred subjects and education was one of the latter.
The government statement further said that if the LG differed with the decision of the minister in October, he should have tried to resolve it with the minister concerned within 15 days and then referred the matter to the council of ministers. If it still remained unresolved, the LG could have referred it to the President for a final decision.
"But in flagrant violation of all established laws, the LG sat on the file for more than four months and raised repeated objections. He has finally sent back the file with amendments, fully knowing he has no right to write anything on the file altering the decision of the minister or the council of ministers," the state government said.
"What is more unfortunate is that the LG's delaying tactics have caused the cancellation of the training programme altogether. It is baffling that the LG has accused the elected government of perpetrating a smear political campaign. It is shameful that the Delhi LG is resorting to such propaganda even after forcing the elected CM and almost five dozen legislators to march on the streets demanding the approval of this file," the statement added.
The Delhi government said that there was no legal or academic basis on which the LG can substitute the proposal developed by an expert body of the government with his own misplaced wisdom. "What expertise does the LG or his office have on such academic matters to overrule the recommendation of the government's own specialised body?" the government questioned.