S.B.SINHA, J. - (1.) THE State of Rajasthan enacted Rajasthan Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad Act, 1959 ('the Act', for short). THE respondent was appointed as a Grade -III teacher on 25.11.1983 by the Panchayat Samiti, Padampur. THE terms and conditions of her appointment were governed by Rajasthan Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishad Service Rules, 1959 ('the Rules', for short). THE Schedule appended to the said rules lay down the conditions for appointment, including basic educational qualification, as also the eligibility criteria therefor which read as under: JUDGEMENT_253_JT5_2006Html1.htm
(2.) THE minimum qualification required for the post of primary school teacher was the matriculation and Basic Short Training Certificate (BSTC) course. THE services of the respondent were terminated in the year 1984 but she was reappointed on a temporary basis. THE Director, Primary and Secondary Education issued a circular directing termination of the services of temporary teachers who possessed only diploma in tailoring. THE services of the respondent pursuant to the said circular had also been terminated, relying on the said circular by the appellant herein, by an order dated 11.5.1987. She filed a writ petition before the Rajasthan High Court wherein an order of stay was passed. She was allowed to continue in service in view of the said order of stay. THE question as to whether, having regard to the fact that the authorities of the State Government themselves had not been sending the assistant teachers for training, some directions were issued by the High Court to the effect that the services of such teachers should not be terminated, but, they should be sent for obtaining the requisite training. The question as to whether the National Training Certificate in tailoring or any other craft should be treated to be equivalent to Short Training Certificate or not, came up for consideration of this Court in State of Rajasthan v. Shyam Lal Joshi and Ors., wherein the relevant rule, which is as under, was noticed: "Secondary with Basic School Training Certificate (BSTC) or a training qualification recognized as equivalent to BSTC by State Government." This Court held: "A distinction has to be drawn between a general teacher who has received complete training and is in a position to teach all the subjects and a teacher who has received training in a particular craft and can, therefore, properly teach that particular craft only. Under the relevant rules for appointment to the post of Primary School Teacher it is necessary to have BSTC or a training qualification recognised as equivalent to BSTC by the State Government. The BSTC course is a two years' training course wherein the training is given in various subjects. The NTC is granted by the ITI after a course of training in a particular craft. By order dated November 8, 1979, the State Government recognised the NTC given by ITI for teaching vocational subjects in Secondary Schools in certain specified crafts, namely, wood work, tailoring, leather work and spinning and weaving. This recognition is limited to teaching the aforesaid vocational subjects only. In the circular dated August 6, .1984, reference has been made to the order dated December 11,1974, whereby certificates of Industrial Examinations of the Rajasthan Government were recognised as equivalent to Arts and Handicraft Examinations of Vidya Bhawan, Udaipur, and it was directed that since the Handicraft Diploma Certificates of Vidya Bhawan have been recognised as equivalent to basic training (BSTC) by the Education Department, the Industrial Examination of the State Government has also been treated as equivalent to BSTC. The said circular does not run counter to the limited nature of recognition granted to NTC by order dated November 8,1979. This was clarified by circular dated January 7,1985 wherein it has been stated that the NTC holders have been given recognition to teach industrial subjects in the secondary schools for conferring NTC and that candidates holding NTC are not eligible for the post of teachers in the Panchayat Samities. The last circular dated November 6, 1985 only gives effect to the directions contained in the earlier circular dated January 7,1985. It would thus appear that limited recognition was given to NTC by order dated November 8, 1979 in the matter of teaching vocational subjects of the certificate and the subsequent circulars dated August 6, 1984, January 7,1985 and November 6,1985 do not detract from that position. The circular dated August 6, 1984 cannot be construed as giving a fresh recognition to NTC and, therefore, the question of withdrawal of recognition granted earlier by the subsequent circulars dated January 7,1985 and November 6, 1985 does not arise. The principle of promissory estoppel is not attracted and the decision of this Court in Suresh Pal v. State of Haryana (1987 AIR (SC) 2029) on which reliance has been placed by the High Court, also has no application. In view of the limited recognition that has been granted to NTCs the holders of NTCs cannot claim appointment as general teachers and can only be appointed to the post of craft teachers in the craft for which they hold the NTC. For teaching subjects other than the craft for which they hold the NTC the position of the holder of NTC is no different from that of an untrained teacher. The need for appointment of properly trained teachers has been emphasised by this Court in Andhra Kesari Educational Society v. Director of School Education [JT 1988 (4) SC 451] wherein it has been observed: "It is, therefore, needless to state that teachers should be subjected to rigorous training with rigid scrutiny of efficiency. It has greater relevance to the needs of the day. The ill -trained or sub -standard teachers would be detrimental to our educational system if not a punishment on our children."
(3.) IN view of the said decision of this Court, the services of all the teachers who did not possess the requisite qualification were directed to be terminated by an order dated 7.4.1994. It is not clear as to whether any order to that effect was served on the respondent. Only on 31.5.1995 an order of termination was served on her. She again filed a writ petition, which was marked as W.P. No.2973/94 before the High Court challenging the said order of termination. An interim order of stay was passed therein. Pursuant to or in furtherance of the said interim order of stay, she continued in service. Ultimately both her writ petitions, namely, W.P.Nos.2973/94 and 1383/87 were dismissed by a learned single Judge of the High Court by an order dated 22.8.1995. Letters Patent Appeals were preferred thereagainst by the respondent no. 1 and by reason of the impugned judgment, the Division Bench of the High Court directed: "For the foregoing circumstances, we are of the opinion that the appellant is entitled to a direction as made in Neera Joshi's case, Loomb Singh's case. We therefore, quash the order of termination and direct the Government to determine whether the qualifications possessed by the appellant entitles her to be continued in service and in the event of coming to the conclusion that the appellant does not possess the requisite qualification, to give her training as had been done in other cases and on her successful completion of the training, regularize her services. We direct the State Government to determine appellant's qualification within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this judgment and proceed further in accordance with law.;