Government supported schools in Maharashtra must have teachers for disabled students, rules court

The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to make sure that schools which are supported by state funds must have special teachers and attendants to help disabled students and staff members.

It also said that the state government is “obligated to provide meaningful opportunities” of education and employment to the disabled.

It told the state to ensure that all special teachers and attendants approved by the government for the assistance of the disabled were given jobs.

The order came after an attendant filed a petition in court after his school was closed down. He was appointed as a permanent employee by the government in 2009 at a special school in Solapur district. The school was closed down without giving any notice to the petitioner and other employees of the institute.

The government also refused to grant another job to the petitioner even though the rules state that any extra teachers and attendants for special schools must be absorbed in other schools or units if the place of their work closes down for a valid reason.

The petitioner said that the state was obligated to provide him an alternate job, and that it could not close down special schools without any reason since it received budgetary funds from the Centre for such institutes.

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