CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has indicted the State government for subjecting BCom degree holders to “artificial discrimination” by disqualifying them for the posts of trained graduate teachers (TGT) in government secondary schools on the ground that their graduation degree course does not have two school subjects.
As per the eligibility criteria fixed by the School and Mass Education department, candidates in order to become eligible for TGTs need to have English, Odia, Sanskrit, History, Geography, Economics, Political Science, Indian Economy, Landmarks in Indian History, Indian Geography, Indian Polity either as pass/honours/elective/optional/compulsory subjects.
Some BCom degree holders had sought the court’s intervention as their candidature was rejected even though they had Communicative English and Business Economics as subjects. While setting aside their rejection order on Friday, the single judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi said, “When all across the State, the course of English is called Communicative English and Economics is called Business Economics in the BCom degree, then denying all BCom graduates the opportunity to be successful in being appointed as a trained graduate teacher using this hyper-technical approach is wholly arbitrary and amounts to an artificial discrimination which cannot hold in law.”
The action of the State School and Mass Education department in not allowing the petitioners, despite possessing all requisite and essential qualifications and after qualifying the computer-based test (CBT), to be appointed as a trained graduate teacher is erroneous and arbitrary, he ruled. Justice Panigrahi directed the department to consider the candidatures of the petitioners in the light of the fact that they possess all requisite qualifications and have qualified in the CBT.