LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: Over 1.72 shiksha mitras in the state saw some hope of saving their jobs when the Supreme Court stayed the Allahabad high court’s September order which declared illegal their appointment as assistant teacher.

While hearing a series of SLPs filed by Shiksha Mitras against the high court’s order, a bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice UU Lalit said: “There is a need to consider every aspect of the case.”

UP advocate general Vijay Bahadur Singh, appearing for UP government, opposed the high court order, claiming that nearly 40 teachers, who lost their jobs as a consequence of the verdict, committed suicide.

Senior advocates P Chidambaram and A M Singhvi, appearing for the teachers, said most of the affected teachers had been working since 1999. The court, while staying the HC order, fixed the petitions for final hearing in the last week of February next year.

Talking to TOI, UP Prathmik Shiksha Mitra Sangh’s state president Gazi Imam Ala said that it was a big day for us. The Supreme Court has brought us justice. He also appealed to the Shiksha Mitras to now concentrate on teaching so that the losses incurred by students due to their agitation could compensated for.

He also thanks the UP government for its constant support and said that the sangh would demand for jobs and social security for the kin of those who committed suicide during their struggle

The high court had on September 12 declared the state government's move illegal. It had also quashed the amendments to the state education department's rules under which nearly 1.71 lakh contractual teachers, popularly known as shiksha mitras, were regularized.

The HC judgment, which affected the careers of nearly 1. 72 lakh shiksha mitras, had come on a petition filed by Shivam Rajan and others who had challenged the state government's decision. Shiksha Mitras were appointed during the previous BSP rule in the state and had been provided a two-year Basic Training Course (BTC) meant for primary teachers through distance education.

In 2012, the newly elected Samajwadi Party government initiated the process of regularizing their services, considered a populist measure, by bringing in the amendments.

