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HC dismisses teachers’ case

Legal CorrespondentCHENNAI 13 JULY 2020 23:59 ISTUPDATED: 13 JULY 2020 23:59 IST    

Says, every public servant must serve to alleviate problems caused by the pandemic

The Madras High Court on Monday expressed strong displeasure over a teachers’ association having chosen to file a case against deployment of school teachers to supervise the work of volunteers involved in ensuring home quarantine of COVID-19 patients and their families across the Greater Chennai Corporation limits.

Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Hemalatha dismissed the case filed by the Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers’ Association with an observation that teachers alone could not seek exemption when other frontline workers, such as police and court staff, had been working in this crisis time.AdvertisingAdAdvertising

When petitioner’s counsel claimed that the Corporation had not spared women teachers of Corporation schools and deployed 200 of them as street warriors, the judges said that could not be a ground to seek exemption since women police and court staff too were working.

“We are facing a pandemic and it is an extraordinary situation. We are all public servants and every one of us must work towards alleviating this problem. Teachers are natural leaders and they must serve the people at this time. What kind of leadership will you instil among students if you don’t serve?” the senior judge in the Bench asked.

The Division Bench also recorded the submissions of Additional Advocate General P.H. Arvindh Pandian that the teachers had been involved only in supervisory work since schools were closed due to the lockdown. He said that the teachers as well as the volunteers were also being provided with all necessary facilities including food and transport.

The AAG further stated that the salaried class was the least affected by the economic crisis thrown by the pandemic and that even sanitary workers had shown great dedication by continuing to perform their duties. After hearing him, the judges directed the Greater Chennai Corporation to provide necessary safety gear to teachers and volunteers.