GUWAHATI, Feb 29 - The Gauhati High Court has pulled up the State Education Department for refusing to appoint a physically challenged TET-qualified girl candidate to the post of Assistant Teacher in the upper primary schools of Lakhimpur district and thereby violating the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
The Court even termed the instance as a classic case of sabotage to benevolent legislations like the Persons with Disabilities Act and directed the authorities to appoint her in Lakhmipur district subject to police and medical verifications within a period of two months.
The case relates to Dipamoni Kalita of Lakhimpur, who has been certified for having 40 per cent deformity (locomotor disability) and had accordingly applied for the post of teachers in the provincialised upper primary schools under physically handicapped category in accordance with an advertisement published in a local daily on November 21, 2012.
She duly appeared in the selection process and although the Directorate of Elementary Education initially published the names of provisional select list, in the final list however, her name was missing. �On this she submitted an application to the Education Minister on May 25, but to no avail. It was then that she filed the writ petition, the judgement of which was given recently (last week) by Chief Justice (Acting) T Vaiphei,� said advocate Nayan Moni Hazarika, the counsel for the petitioner.
Although the Education department had filed two affidavits to prove its case, the Court refused to buy the arguments, thereby delivering the judgment in the favour of the applicant.
