Schools asked to regularise those Kashmiri teachers working since 1994. Stating that teachers play an extraordinary part in the lives of pupils, the Delhi High Court Wednesday directed the regularisation of all Kashmiri migrant teachers working with the Delhi government and civic body schools in the capital since 1994. A bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Deepa Sharma directed that the Delhi government, New Delhi Municipal Council and the MCDs pass appropriate regularisation order in this regard. It said all authorities shall state that these teachers are regularised from the date of their appointment, April 2, 1994. “Such orders shall be issued within eight weeks from today,” the bench said, adding that “it is not in everybody’s ken to be a teacher, they play an extraordinary part in the lives of their pupils, in shaping their thoughts and personalities”. “Our society values teachers, who are venerated to the same level of parents, worthy of worship. It is a sad day for such a proud society that teachers have to reach out to courts, for what is justly their due. That this was the case with migrant teachers, who had to toil for these 20 years, with less than the minimum scale, is a sad commentary for the state which in the first place could not assure the security and safety of their life and possessions that led them to flee their native state and become refugees, in a manner of speaking, in their own country,” the bench said. The bench, on pronouncing the verdict in a packed courtroom, also said that the teachers’ “hope of returning to their homes, and for peace in the Valley, may not yet be attainable, but the acceptance of their claims should act as a balm, rekindle their confidence in society and our commitment to equality and equal opportunity”. The verdict brought smiles to several Kashmiri teachers present in court. As a token of gratitude, they tried to present the judges with Kashmiri shawls. Both judges, however, refused to accept these, saying they value the expression but they were just performing their duty. The teachers had also brought sweets, which they distributed it among themselves, lawyers and court staff after the bench rose. The court direction came while dismissing the Delhi government’s appeal challenging a regularisation order passed in 2015. As many as 198 Kashmiri teachers were contractually employed as Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs) and Post Graduate Teachers (PGT) by the Delhi government in 1994, after they were displaced from Kashmir. The teachers were initially appointed at a salary of Rs 2,500 per month for TGT and Rs 3,000 per month PGT in 1995. It was on April 5 this year that their remuneration was revised — from Rs 20,989 to Rs 45,798 for TGT, and Rs 21,291 to Rs 48,552 for for PGT. In its order, the bench also said that the nomenclature, ‘contract teachers’, was artificial as these migrant teachers were appointed against regular vacancies and their services were unbroken. “For these reasons, having regard to their unbroken employment for over two decades… the Kashmiri migrant teachers are entitled to be treated as regular appointees,” the bench said. It made it clear that these teachers will be entitled to provident fund benefit, gratuity, leave encashment and pension on attaining the age of superannuation.