High Court upholds reservation order; appointment of differently-abled in aided school should be made immediately

KOCHI: The High Court has upheld the orders and circulars issued by the state government to ensure reservation for differently-abled people in appointments in aided schools. Justice TR Ravi ordered that the government should immediately issue instructions to the school managements to make appointments in the posts reserved for differently-abled people. The order was issued after the managements and teachers whose appointments were not confirmed filed petitions alleging that the government orders were illegal.

The court also directed the authorities to take a decision within a month on the applications submitted by the managements for permission to fill the vacancies of differently-abled people. 3% reservation was reserved for this category in appointments under the Disability Act of 1995. This was increased to 4% under the 2016 Act.

The court rejected the petitioners' demand that the categories like higher secondary and high school in schools should be considered as a single unit to determine the vacancies. A certain percentage of posts should be created in each category. The single bench also upheld the government order that the first appointment in a block of 25 candidates should be for the differently abled. The court did not accept the managements' demand that the order not be applicable in primary schools.

At the same time, the court also clarified that the appointments of differently abled should be made excluding the posts for protected teachers. The government informed the court that 7301 appointments of differently abled people are pending in aided schools.