Case: THE STATE OF BIHAR Vs. THE BIHAR SECONDARY TEACHERS STRUGGLE COMMITTEE MUNGER

parity that is claimed is by the larger group with the lesser group as stated above which itself is a dying or a vanishing cadre. d) The mode of recruitment of Niyojit Teachers is completely different from that of the Government Teachers as stated above. 77. If a pay structure is normally to be evolved keeping in mind factors such as method of recruitment and employers capacity to pay and if the limitations or qualifications to the applicability of the doctrine of equal pay for equal work admit inter alia the distinction on the ground of process of recruitment, the stand taken on behalf of the State Government is not unreasonable or irrational. Going by the facts indicated above and the statistics presented by the State Government, it was an enormous task of having the spread and reach of education in the remotest corners. Furthermore, the literacy rate of the State which was lagging far behind the national average was also a matter which required attention. The advancesmade by the State on these fronts are quite evident. All this was possible through rational use of resources. How best to use or utilise the resources and what emphasis be given to which factors are all policy matters and in our considered view the State had not faltered on any count. As laid down by this Court in the decisions in Joginder Singh 1963 Suppl. 2 SCR 169 and Zabar Singh (1972) 2 SCC 275 , the State was justified in having two different streams or cadres. The attempt in making over the process of selection to Panchayati Raj Institutions and letting the cadre of State Teachers to be a dying or vanishing cadre were part of the same mechanics of achieving the spread of education. These issues were all part of an integrated policy and if by process of judicial intervention any directions are issued to make available same salaries and emoluments to Niyojit Teachers, it could create tremendous imbalance and cause great strain on budgetary resources. 78. It is true that the budgetary constraints or financial implications can never be a ground if there is violation of Fundamental Rights of a citizen. Similarly, while construing the provisions of the RTE Act and the Rules framed thereunder, that interpretation ought to be accepted which would make the Right available under Article 21A a reality. As the text of the Article shows the provision is essentially child-centric. There cannot be two views as regards the point that Free and Compulsory Education ought to be quality education. However, such premise cannot lead to the further conclusion that in order to have quality education, Niyojit Teachers ought to be paid emoluments at the same level as are applicable to the State Teachers. The modalities in which expert teachers can be found, whether by giving them better scales and/or by insisting on threshold ability which could be tested through examinations such as TET Examination are for the Executive to consider. 79. In our considered view, there has been no violation of the Rights of the Niyojit Teachers nor has there been any discrimination against them. We do not find that the efforts on part of the State Government could be labelled as unfair or discriminatory. Consequently, the submissions as to how the funds could and ought to be generated and what would be the burden on the State Government and the Central Government, do not arise for consideration. In our view, great strides have been made by the State in the last decade. It has galvanised itself into action and not only achieved the objectives of having schools in every neighbourhood but has also succeeded in increasing the literacy rate. It has also succeeded in having more girl children in the stream of education and consequently the TFR, as indicated above, has also improved to a great extent. If these are the benefits or rewards which the society stands to gain and achieve, the State ought to be given appropriate free play. The tabular charts placed on record by the State also show continuous improvements made by the State in the packages made available to the Niyojit Teachers. Said attempts also show that the State is moving in the right direction and the gap which is presently existing between the Government Teachers and the Niyojit Teachers would progressively get diminished. Considering the large number of Niyojit Teachers as against the Government Teachers, the steps taken by the State as evident from various tabular charts presented by it are in the right direction. At this juncture, any directions as have been passed by the High Court, may break even tempo which the State has consistently been able to achieve. 80. At the same time, the submission that at the initial stage the Niyojit Teachers are given such emoluments which are lesser than peons and clerks in the same school is a matter which requires attention. It is true that after having put in two years of service, the emoluments made available to Niyojit Teachers show some improvements but the disparity at the initial stage is more than evident. The State may certainly be entitled to devise a pay structure for Niyojit Teachers and the courts may not interfere in policy matters but, if there is an imbalance of the nature as presented before this Court, the matter raises concern. The teachers must be entitled to decent emoluments. In the chart referred to in para 32(c) above, after two years of service with proposed enhancement as per recommendations of the three member Committee the scales payable to Niyojit Teachers would show some increase as against those in respect of peons and clerks. The State may consider raising the scales of Niyojit Teachers at least to the level suggested by the Committee, without insisting on any test or examination advised by the Committee. Those who clear such test or examination, may be given even better scales. This is only a suggestion which may be considered by the State.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]56. At the outset we must note that though the 86 th Constitution Amendment Act was passed in the year 2002, the Article was brought into force on 1.4.2010 i.e. at least after eight years. It is also a matter of record that the RTE Act which was, all the while in contemplation, was enacted in the year 2009 and was also brought into force on 1.4.2010. The developments in that behalf including the historical background leading to the introduction of Article 21A and the enactment of the RTE Act were dealt with in extenso in paragraphs 441 to 461 in the opinion of Bhandari, J in Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India (2008) 6 SCC 1.   We, therefore, have to see how the State had conducted itself and whether the steps taken by the State were in order to discharge its obligationsIn the year 2002 itself, Scheme known as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was introduced at the Central level. In terms of the Scheme, the facilities of education and infrastructure were required to be spread through the length and breadth of the respective States. The steps taken in that behalf, specially in the present matter, indicate that sometime in 2002 more thanone lakh Shiksha Mitras were appointed by the State. These Shiksha Mitras were not part of the regular cadre of Government Teachers, were not appointed through the regular process of selection and their services were engaged on a fixed salary. These Shiksha Mitras, who were outside the regular cadre of teachers, were entrusted with the job of manning schools in the remotest corners of the State. Sometime in 2006, certain decisions were taken by the Cabinet of Ministers, Government of Bihar. The control in respect of appointment of teachers in all nationalized schools and other aspects, which were hithertobefore with the State Government, were given over to various Panchayat Raj institutions. This was in conformity with Articles 243G read with Serial No. 17 of the Eleventh Schedule in respect of Panchayats at the village, intermediate and at district levels and also in terms of Article 243W read with Serial No.13 of the Twelfth Schedule in respect of Nagar Panchayats, Municipal Councils or Municipal Corporations. The decisions taken by the Cabinet were in accord with the constitutional mandate of enabling Panchayat Raj Systems on one hand while on the other, the decision also raised the number of teachers substantially so that national parameters on student:teacher ratio could be achieved by the State. The statistics placed on record show that about 12% children in the State who were outside the schools had to be brought within the stream of education. The decision discernible from the Cabinet Notes was to achieve these objectives. After the decision of the Cabinet, the idea was translated in an appropriate statutory regime and new set of Rules viz. 2016 Rules were put in place. A decision was taken that there would be no further appointments in the cadre of existing teachers viz. Government Teachers and a completely new cadre of teachers named Niyojit Teachers was created. The erstwhile Shiksha Mitras were absorbed in this new cadre of Niyojit Teacher and fresh employments were made at Panchayat/Block levels so that teachers in sufficient numbers could be appointed. The developments indicate that presently about four lakh such teachers have been appointed and the statistics presented by the State, which are reflected in detail in abovenoted paragraph 31, show the advances made by the State in that behalf. It was submitted that the State could thus achieve substantial improvement in the enrolment of students and the results have also seen appreciable rise in literacy rate in the last decade in respect of the State57. We are thus having a situation where the decisions taken by the State as submitted on its behalf, were guided by public interest and societal commitment. The idea to achieve spread of education to the maximum level was attained and in the process the State had, to a great extent, triedto meet with the obligations that it was required to discharge under the provisions of Article 21A read with the RTE Act. What has however been projected on behalf of Niyojit Teachers is that while achieving these objectives, the State ought not to have discriminated against the Niyojit Teachers and should have extended fair treatment to them by ensuring equal pay for equal work. The arguments on behalf of State are that the first objective that had to be accomplished was to have the reach and spread of education to every nook and corner of the State and to satisfy the requirements of having schools and facilities in every neighbourhood as contemplated by the provisions of the RTE Act; and having achieved that objective, the State is now seeking to improve the service conditions and emoluments of the Niyojit Teachers. What therefore emerges is whether the actions on part of the State were justified or whether the Niyojit Teachers are right in their submission that they are entitled to equal pay for equal work58. Before we consider the rival submissions in connection with this issue, it must be mentioned that the cadre of Government Teachers with which parity or equality has been sought is a dying or a vanishing cadre. A conscious decision was taken by the State not to make any appointments in this cadre of Government Teachers and post 2006, with the exception as narrated hereinabove in paragraph 17, all appointments in the State have been in terms of and under the provisions of 2006 Rules. The statistics also show that presently there are about 57,293 elementary teachers in the cadre of Government Teachers and 7,800 Government Teachers at the secondary level which means there are about 66,000 government teachers in the State as against nearly 4 lakh Niyojit Teachers in the State. It is this group of 4 lakhs which is seeking parity with a number which is less than 1/5 th and by very nature which is a dying and vanishing cadre. Out of those 66,000 more than 31,000 were those who came to be appointed as one-time exception. Leaving aside that issue, the fact remains that it is a larger body of more than 4 lakhs which is seeking parity with a dying or a vanishing cadre59. In order to consider the applicability of the doctrine of equal pay for equal work, one of the fundamental aspects to be considered is nature of duties. As was rightly submitted by Mr. Kabil Sibal and Dr. A.M. Singhvi, learned Senior Advocates, the nature of duties performed by Niyojit Teachers are certainly same or similar to those performed by the Government Teachers. As a matter of fact, both the sets of teachers are teaching in the same school and teaching same syllabus. The pointers placed by Dr. Singhvi in his submission as well as the example given by him evidently show that there is no distinction or difference as regards nature of duties performed and responsibilities discharged by the Niyojit Teachers. Some of the Niyojit Teachers have also been acting as Headmasters. However, the Rules in question viz. 2006 Rules clearly indicate that the method of recruitment of Niyojit Teachers was completely different from the one under which Government Teachers were recruited. The Selection Committee contemplated under the provisions of 2006 Rules comprised of officials at the Panchayat or Block levels. The selection was also at local levels and not through Bihar Public Service Commission or Schools Selection Board. The distinction brought out in that behalf by the State in para 13 of its supplementary counter affidavit filed in the High Court clearly shows the difference in mode of recruitment. It is thus clear that the mode of recruitment and the standards of selection were different but the nature of duties performed by the Niyojit Teachers have been absolutely identical. Could there be a distinction between these two streams of teachers. We may, therefore, at this stage see the development of the doctrine of equal pay for equal work and whether it admits of any qualifications or exceptions62. Post Randhir Singh (1982) 1 SCC 618  , there have been number of decisions rendered by this Court and instead of looking into and considering every single decision on the point, we may consider those decisions which themselves had taken into account all the earlier decisions and thenconsidered if there are any limitations or qualifications to the doctrine of equal pay for equal work68. Analysis of the decisions referred to above shows that this Court has accepted following limitations or qualifications to the applicability of the doctrine of equal pay for equali) The doctrine of equal pay for equal work is not an abstract doctrineii) The principle of equal pay for equal work has no mechanical application in every caseiii) The very fact that the person has not gone through the process of recruitment may itself, in certain cases, makes a differenceiv) The application of the principle of equal pay for equal work requires consideration of various dimensions of a given jobv) Thus normally the applicability of this principle must be left to be evaluated and determined by an expert body. These are not matters where a writ court can lightly interferevi) Granting pay scales is a purely executive function and hence the court should not interfere with the same. It may have a cascading effect creating all kinds of problems for the Government and authoritiesvii) Equation of posts and salary is a complex matter which should be left to an expert bodyviii) Granting of pay parity by the court may result in a cascading effect and reaction which can have adverse consequencesix) Before entertaining and accepting the claim based on the principle of equal pay for equal work, the Court must consider the factors like the source and mode of recruitment/appointmentx) In a given case, mode of selection may be considered as one of the factors which may make a difference71. The qualifications to the applicability of the doctrine of equal pay for equal work which have long been recognised and acknowledged in the decisions referred to above are well established. The decision in Jagjit Singh (2017) 1 SCC 148     again reiterated some of those qualifications. These limitations or qualifications have not been diluted but stand re-inforced74. Heavy reliance was placed on the aforesaid decisions by the learned Attorney General and the learned counsel who appeared for the State. It was submitted that though the teachers in provincialized cadre and the State cadre were doing similar duties and discharging identical responsibilities and though, they were as a matter of fact drawing similar pay and emoluments, the services were considered to be distinct and different. The feature that one of the cadres was to be a dying or vanishing cadre was also present in those cases. It was accepted by this Court that the State was within its Rights to let a particular service or cadre be a dying or vanishing cadre and keep making appointments in other service while maintaining distinct identities of both the services, even when the teachers coming from the both the cadres were doing identical jobs. Though, strictly speaking, those two matters did not involve concept of equal pay for equal work, these cases do point that the State can validly make such distinction or differentiation. The learned Attorney General and the learned counsel appearing for the State were, therefore, justified in placing reliance on these two decisions. It is also evident that the subsequent judgments have not noted the decisions of this Court in Joginder Singh 1963 Suppl. 2 SCR 169   and Zabar SinghFor the purposes of present discussion, we will proceed on the basis that even when the teachers from both the cadres were discharging similar duties and responsibilities, the decision of the State government to maintain different identities of these two cadres was not found objectionable by this Court and further there could be inter se distinctions between these two cadres. It is true that both the cadres were enjoying same pay structure but the submission that the chances of promotion ought to be similar was not accepted by the Court76. We, therefore, have to proceed on the following basic premise:a) It was open to the State to have two distinct cadres namely that of Government Teachers and Niyojit Teachers with Government Teachers being a dying or vanishing cadre. The incidents of these two cadres could be different. The idea by itself would not be discriminatoryb) The pay structure given to the Niyojit Teachers was definitely lower than what was given to Government Teachers but the number of Government Teachers was considerably lower than the number of Niyojit TeachersAs stated above, presently there are just about 66,000 Government Teachers in the State as against nearly 4 lakh Niyojit Teachers. There is scope for further appointment of about 1 lakh teachers which could mean that as against 5 lakh teachers the number of State Teachers would progressively be going downc) The parity that is claimed is by the larger group with the lesser group as stated above which itself is a dying or a vanishing cadred) The mode of recruitment of Niyojit Teachers is completely different from that of the Government Teachers as stated above77. If a pay structure is normally to be evolved keeping in mind factors such as method of recruitment and employers capacity to pay and if the limitations or qualifications to the applicability of the doctrine of equal pay for equal work admit inter alia the distinction on the ground of process of recruitment, the stand taken on behalf of the State Government is not unreasonable or irrational. Going by the facts indicated above and the statistics presented by the State Government, it was an enormous task of having the spread and reach of education in the remotest corners. Furthermore, the literacy rate of the State which was lagging far behind the national average was also a matter which required attention. The advancesmade by the State on these fronts are quite evident. All this was possible through rational use of resources. How best to use or utilise the resources and what emphasis be given to which factors are all policy matters and in our considered view the State had not faltered on any count. As laid down by this Court in the decisions in Joginder Singh 1963 Suppl. 2 SCR 169   and Zabar Singh(1972) 2 SCC 275, the State was justified in having two different streams or cadres. The attempt in making over the process of selection to Panchayati Raj Institutions and letting the cadre of State Teachers to be a dying or vanishing cadre were part of the same mechanics of achieving the spread of education. These issues were all part of an integrated policy and if by process of judicial intervention any directions are issued to make available same salaries and emoluments to Niyojit Teachers, it could create tremendous imbalance and cause great strain on budgetary resources78. It is true that the budgetary constraints or financial implications can never be a ground if there is violation of Fundamental Rights of a citizen. Similarly, while construing the provisions of the RTE Act and the Rules framed thereunder, that interpretation ought to be accepted which would make the Right available under Article 21A a reality. As the text of the Article shows the provision is essentially child-centric. There cannot be two views as regards the point that Free and Compulsory Education ought to be quality education. However, such premise cannot lead to the further conclusion that in order to have quality education, Niyojit Teachers ought to be paid emoluments at the same level as are applicable to the State Teachers. The modalities in which expert teachers can be found, whether by giving them better scales and/or by insisting on threshold ability which could be tested through examinations such as TET Examination are for the Executive to consider79. In our considered view, there has been no violation of the Rights of the Niyojit Teachers nor has there been any discrimination against them. We do not find that the efforts on part of the State Government could be labelled as unfair or discriminatory. Consequently, the submissions as to how the funds could and ought to be generated and what would be the burden on the State Government and the Central Government, do not arise for considerationIn our view, great strides have been made by the State in the last decade. It has galvanised itself into action and not only achieved the objectives of having schools in every neighbourhood but has also succeeded in increasing the literacy rate. It has also succeeded in having more girl children in the stream of education and consequently the TFR, as indicated above, has also improved to a great extent. If these are the benefits or rewards which the society stands to gain and achieve, the State ought to be given appropriate free play. The tabular charts placed on record by the State also show continuous improvements made by the State in the packages made available to the Niyojit Teachers. Said attempts also show that the State is moving in the right direction and the gap which is presently existing between the Government Teachers and the Niyojit Teachers would progressively get diminished. Considering the large number of Niyojit Teachers as against the Government Teachers, the steps taken by the State as evident from various tabular charts presented by it are in the right direction. At this juncture, any directions as have been passed by the High Court, may break even tempo which the State has consistently been able to achieve80. At the same time, the submission that at the initial stage the Niyojit Teachers are given such emoluments which are lesser than peons and clerks in the same school is a matter which requires attention. It is true that after having put in two years of service, the emoluments made available to Niyojit Teachers show some improvements but the disparity at the initial stage is more than evident. The State may certainly be entitled to devise a pay structure for Niyojit Teachers and the courts may not interfere in policy matters but, if there is an imbalance of the nature as presented before this Court, the matter raises concern. The teachers must be entitled to decent emoluments. In the chart referred to in para 32(c) above, after two years of service with proposed enhancement as per recommendations of the three member Committee the scales payable to Niyojit Teachers would show some increase as against those in respect of peons and clerks. The State may consider raising the scales of Niyojit Teachers at least to the level suggested by the Committee, without insisting on any test or examination advised by the Committee. Those who clear such test or examination, may be given even better scales. This is only a suggestion which may be considered by the State.