The Madras High Court has partially vacated its stay on the appointment of 3,456 post-graduate assistants, physical education directors grade-I in School Education Department and others by the Teachers Recruitment Board.
The stay was granted by the court earlier this year after the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Differently Abled and Caregivers had challenged the recruitment notification.
The First Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and M. Sundar allowed the TRB to recruit all others except those with disabilities, noting that allowing such a large number of vacancies to exist would be against the interest of the students.
It asked the TRB not to recruit anyone against the 4% reservation for Persons With Disabilities (PWD). “....the respondent authorities may fill up the posts of the ‘General’ category of posts reserved for categories other than the differently abled,” said the interim order.
The court accepted the petitioner’s contention that the TRB had erred in fixing eligibility criteria for PWD.
Criteria questioned
According to the recruitment advertisement, only those falling within the one arm, one leg and both legs categories, suffering 40-70% disabilities, were eligible to apply. The petitioner had argued that this went against a March 2, 2016, Government Order of the Welfare of Differently Abled Persons department, which imposed no such restrictions on those recruited as post- graduate teachers.
