- (1.) By this writ application, the petitioners, nine in number, all vocational and engineering training schools in the State of West Bengal, have prayed for direction upon the respondents to introduce pay scale to the teaching and non-teaching staff and to modify/amend the old Grant-in-Aid Rules, 1930. The petitioners have further prayed for setting aside the order dated 6th December, 1991 passed by the Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department, Government of West Bengal being Annexure 'P-14'.
(2.) By the said order dated 6th December, 1999, the Joint Secretary of the concerned department has turned down the prayers of the petitioners for grant of pay scale and amending the existing Grant-in-Aid Rules, 1930.
(3.) The following facts are not in dispute: a) The petitioners are running their schools with the Grant-in-Aid for technical and industrial schools as per G.O. 26T-A.1 dated 19th April, 1930. These industrial schools are functioning with the assistance of its staff with the approval of Director of Industries of West Bengal under the scheme applicable to different technical and industrial Grant-in-Aid schools. These schools are run under the supervision of the Directorate of Industries like other schools under West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. Each of the schools have Managing Committee or approved authority for a stipulated period. b) Apart from supervision of management and administration, in all these schools, the staff maintenance and development, purchase of equipment for the training are made with the aid and assistance of Directorate of Industries but no pay-scale was introduced under the said Grant-in-Aid Scheme of 1930. c) The petitioners in the past made various representations to the State respondents for the purpose of fixing up a pay scale structure like that of other teachers in secondary or primary schools but the State respondents have not approved the prayer of the petitioners. d) After various representations were made, by Memo No. 7561 dated 29th March, 1995, the Commerce and Industries Department of Government of West Bengal fixed the additional maintenance grant/dearness allowance to each of the teaching staff @ Rs. 200/- per month and a further sum of Rs. 100/- per month to the non-teaching staff. Thereafter, by a further Memo dated 13th March, 1996, the Director of Industries informed the Commerce and Industries Department by sanctioning monthly additional maintenance grant/dearness allowance @ Rs. 210/- per month to the teaching staff and @ Rs. 125/- to the non-teaching staff per month and that amount of grant is being received by the employees of the petitioners. e) According to Grant-in-Aid Rules, 1930, the power to sanction aid to a particular school is limited to a sum of Rs. 10,000/- per year and the State respondent is reluctant to amend the said rules and enhance the said amount even in the year 2000.;