Kolkata, August 21: The Kolkata High Court‘s single-judge bench has established several conditions for the involvement of teachers from government schools in West Bengal in census work.
Justice Krishna Rao’s bench has already informed the relevant schools about the need for teachers for census duties.
Justice Rao emphasized that schools must arrange for substitute teachers to ensure that regular academic sessions are not disrupted.
However, he stated that once assigned census duties, teachers must report for duty and perform necessary tasks related to the census.
Additionally, Justice Rao indicated that teachers engaged in census duties should be considered ‘on-duty’ for the entire duration they are involved in related activities.
Previously, Justice Rao commented on the dual responsibilities of teachers, stating that they could either be engaged in teaching or census duties at any given time.
He also suggested appointing teachers on a rotational basis for census duties, and if possible, on alternate days.
Justice Rao raised concerns about the large number of teachers appointed from government schools for census work and advised the state government to select specific teachers for these duties.
Teachers who approached the Kolkata High Court against their collective appointment for census duties argued that while they did not oppose participating, their involvement should be recognized administratively as ‘on-duty’ by the state administration. The single-judge bench delivered its decision on this matter on Friday.
Earlier, Justice Rao questioned whether the decision to appoint teachers for this work was made after consultation between census officials and the state government.
The hearing for this case concluded on Thursday, but Justice Rao reserved the judgment, which was delivered on Friday afternoon.
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