Chautala's fallout: Haryana teachers' fate uncertain

The fate of hundreds of teachers in government schools in Haryana has become uncertain with the conviction of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, his son and 53 others in the JBT (junior basic trained) recruitment controversy.

Chautala and others were convicted for tampering with the selection list of over 3,200 teachers recruited in 1999-2000 when he was chief minister and selecting them on the basis of bribes, nepotism and favouritism.

Senior functionaries in the government Thursday maintained that a decision on the fate of the selected teachers, who have been in government service for over 12 years, will be decided by the present Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda only after receiving a copy of the judgment of the Rohini CBI court.

"We will evaluate the court order and then the government will decide the next course of action," said Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal.

Some of the selected teachers had in fact gone to the Punjab and Haryana high court to seek promotions.

A senior education department officer said the government and the education department will have to look into all the aspects, including the fate of the wrong selections as well as those who were left out of the selection to accommodate the favourites.

"There are legal implications involved. Even the selected wrongly have been in service for 10-12 years and even got promotions. The wrong selections will be known after the court order copy is received," said a senior officer of the education department.

"The people who were left out of the selection because of the goings-on at that time will also demand something. The government will take a final call on all these issues," the officer added.

The CBI court Wednesday convicted Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala and 53 others, including senior officers and political leaders, for tampering and fudging the lists of selected candidates to include people who paid bribes or to show favouritism.
Chautala, who was Haryana's chief minister from 1999 to 2005, and his son and others were arrested and sent to Tihar jail.