HC closes contempt plea over Model School attached hostels

Justice K. Lakshman of Telangana High Court on Monday closed the contempt of court petition seeking action against authorities for not enforcing the HC order to relieve principals of Model Schools of the duties to run hostels attached to the schools.

The judge took the decision after the government counsel told the bench that government had come out with an order taking off the duties of running the hostels from the job chart of the Model Schools Principals. As per the order issued five days ago, the Special Officers of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) will be over-all in-charge of the hostels attached to Model schools.

They will look after all the tasks relating to financial and administrative activities. They would run the hostels with the assistance of the existing staff. The caretakers working in KGBV are temporarily re-designated as caretaker-cum-warden. They are assigned the duties which were hitherto being discharged by the Model Schools principals, the order said.

In year 2018, Telangana Model Schools Principals’ Association filed a writ petition seeking a direction to the government to relieve them of the duties of running hostels attached to the schools. Sixty one principals of models schools from different districts of the State filed the petition stating that 174 Model schools out of the 194 in the State had hostels built on their schools premises.

With the government not appointing separate wardens to run these hotels, principals of the respective schools were compelled to look after the responsibilities of the hostels. Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, who heard the plea then, instructed the government in 2019 to relieve the principals of that work within two months.

The Association again moved the HC by filing a contempt of court plea this year seeking action against the government for not enforcing the judge order. Appearing before the bench of Justice K. Lakshman, the government counsel presented the order issued by the government relieving the Model Schools principals of the duties of running the hostels.