Rajasthan High Court - Jaipur
Advocate Pankaj Sharma vs State Of Raj And Anr on 16 October, 2019
Bench: Mohammad Rafiq, Narendra Singh Dhaddha
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
BENCH AT JAIPUR
D.B. Civil Writ Petition No.8250/2018
Advocate Pankaj Sharma
----Petitioner
Versus
State Of Raj And Anr
----Respondent
For Petitioner(s) : Ms. Sumati Bishnoi with
Ms. Pankaj Sharma
For Respondent(s) : Mr. M.S. Singhvi, Advocate General,
with Mr. Darsh Pareek
Mr. C.L. Saini, Additional Advocate
General
Mr. Amit Kuri for JDA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MOHAMMAD RAFIQ
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NARENDRA SINGH DHADDHA
Order
16/10/2019
This writ petition, styled as public interest litigation, has been filed by petitioner Advocate Ms. Pankaj Sharma W/o Shri Rajendra Sharma, inter alia with prayer that the respondent State be directed to appoint 17 permanent government skilled teachers for class Nursery to 12th standard and 5 non-teaching staff in the school being run by the Rajasthan Netraheen Kalyan Sangh, Jaipur, (for short, 'the Sangh') exclusively for the benefit of blind and visually impaired children. Further prayer is made for a direction to the respondents to provide necessary medical and transportation facilities to the students of the said school. It is next prayed that the respondents be directed to allot adequate piece of land to the Sangh, for building of the school and play (Downloaded on 23/10/2019 at 09:10:08 PM) (2 of 7) [CW-8250/2018] ground with sports/game facilities free of costs for the students of the said school.
The petitioner has contended that the school run by the Rajasthan Netraheen Kalyan Sangh, Jaipur, has approximately 100 blind/visually impaired students from Nursery to 12 th standard. They require minimum 15 trained skilled teachers. The Sangh has very limited financial resources and can afford to hire maximum half of them. The State Government in the past provided only three trained skilled teachers on deputation, who were well conversant with the Braille, which is a tactile writing system used by visually impaired people, to the school. The Government should be required to provide seven such teachers on deputation.
It is also submitted that the Sangh has identified the land and suggested to the Jaipur Development Authority three different suitable locations on Agra Road, Ajmer Road and Jhalana area, where the land is available for allotment. The Government should be required to allot the land free of costs to the Sangh, which has been running the school in question.
This Court on 02.04.2019 required the Principal Secretary, Secondary Education, to inspect the school of the Sangh and take necessary steps to provide minimum seven skilled teachers on deputation. The Court on that day was informed on behalf of the Jaipur Development Authority that though the application for allotment of land for establishing the school for visually impaired students, has been received in the office of the Jaipur Development Authority on prescribed proforma, but it has yet to take any decision on allotment of the land. This Court on that date directed the Commissioner, Jaipur Development Authority to examine the matter personally and consider allotting the land in (Downloaded on 23/10/2019 at 09:10:08 PM) (3 of 7) [CW-8250/2018] the aforesaid suggested areas or any other suitable land. The Principal Secretary, Secondary Education, as also the Commissioner, Jaipur Development Authority, were required to file their affidavits.
When the matter was listed before the Court on 20.08.2019, it was submitted on behalf of the Jaipur Development Authority that allotment of land on concessional rate can be made only in terms of the Government policy but the premium fixed would have to be paid. The learned counsel for petitioner thereupon submitted that the Government has made allotment of the land on very nominal rates to Koli Samaj, Bairwa Samaj, Agarwal Samaj and Jain Samaj. The respondent State was therefore directed to look into this aspect and issue proper directions and observed that in the event certain social organizations have been granted land on concessional or minimal rates, the petitioner Sangh too may be afforded same treatment. Thereafter when the matter was listed on 27.09.2019, it was contended on behalf of the petitioner that the salary of Mr. Om Prakash Nirwan, a Teacher working with the aforementioned school on deputation basis, has also been withheld. The Court directed the Principal Secretary, Elementary Education, Government of Rajasthan, to ensure release of his salary forthwith. The Court further directed the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development and Housing, Government of Rajasthan, to file specific affidavit on the issue of allotment of land, and the Principal Secretary, Elementary Education, Government of Rajasthan, was also required to file specific affidavit on the issue of providing seven trained teachers to the School of the Sangh on deputation.
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(4 of 7) [CW-8250/2018] Mr. M.S. Singhvi, learned Advocate General, has submitted that the question of allotment of the land for the school of the Sangh, which is running the school for blind and visually impaired, is under active consideration of the Government. The proposal as to the allotment of the land for the school of the Sangh at nominal rate or free of costs, has been referred to the State Cabinet for their decision, which is awaited.
Having regard to the importance of the matter, we deem it appropriate to briefly take stock of the activities of the Sangh. The Sangh is engaged in providing valuable services to the humanity. It has been running the school for last many decades, exclusively for the benefit of blind and visually impaired children. The school in question is a senior secondary school, from class nursery to 12 th standard. The school also imparts training to them in various kind of vocational activities. It provides them skills for being erudite, seeking reverential jobs, starting self employment, and to live inclusively in the society with dignity. The present school is a residential school for the blind students up to 12 th standard, wherein, apart from education, lodging and boarding facilities are provided absolutely free of costs. The Sangh is running such services since 1968, thus for last more than five decades. The efforts of the Sangh has made significant difference in the lives of thousands of people suffering from blindness or low vision. The Sangh also has a Braille press, which prints almost 2.5 million braille pages per year. Their fortnightly publication reaches around 50000 readers in more than 17 States of the country, which is also read in United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. Their mobile library van provides door to door services to visually impaired persons. Their (Downloaded on 23/10/2019 at 09:10:08 PM) (5 of 7) [CW-8250/2018] school library has merely 1500 books in braille including comics and course books.
Ms. Sumati Bishnoi, learned counsel for petitioner, submitted that owing to scarcity of financial resources, the Sangh is struggling to run the school for quite sometime. The Sangh mostly survives on the donation/charity received from various persons including the institutions. The scarcity of financial resources as also space has made it difficult for them to effectively run the school with proper facilities, particularly because it is located in a small premises in densely populated area in Brahmpuri colony in the walled city of Jaipur. She submitted that the Sangh would not be in a position to even pay nominal price for allotment of the land for the school in question, let alone raising of construction of the building on the allotted land. It is submitted that if the school up to 12th standard is provided with adequate infrastructure in the shape of building of school and hostel, constructed keeping in view special needs of the students, library, play ground etc., the strength of blind and visually impaired students is likely to rise to more than 500 students.
It is submitted that already 200 students, who have passed out of the school, have got jobs on their skills basis. It is informed that one of the students of the school obtained degree from a reputed institute of the country, i.e., I.I.T., Bombay, and is presently working in IT sector in Bangalore with handsome package. One student of the school is running his own company with fifty persons employed. Seventy/Eighty students have got jobs in different fields. Nearly twenty-five students of the school are working in the banks and nearly twenty students are working in private sectors. One student got selected in sports for para (Downloaded on 23/10/2019 at 09:10:08 PM) (6 of 7) [CW-8250/2018] Asian games scheduled at Korea. Many children of the school won all India competition in Braille reading and writing competition.
Learned counsel for petitioner submitted that the Sangh would have no objection if the School is taken over by the State Government. She rather made a fervent plea to call upon the State Government to undertake this pious duty.
Having regard to the submissions as also the facts stated above and considering that as it is, the matter is stated to be placed before the State Cabinet, we deem it appropriate to direct the respondents to place the proposal for taking over the school in question for their consideration, to take over the school and allot the land and set up the school outside the Jaipur walled city, on the land proposed to be allotted, by raising construction of well- equipped user friendly building of school and hostel at the Government expenses with sports/game facilities and give fair and wide publicity to such school all over the State, so as to encourage the parents of the blind and visually impaired children for their admission therein.
In our view, the State Government, being a welfare State, has an obligation to this class of children, to whom the destiny has not been very kind, to illuminate their lives with the light of education and ameliorate their living conditions by empowering them, so as to make them able to smoothly sail through the difficulties of the life.
In our view, the Government ought to approach this matter with sensitivity it deserves, and deal with this issue most sympathetically. It is our earnest hope that their misery would not be measured by the likely budgetary burden on the State exchequer.
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We may incidentally mention here that the State of
Rajasthan was the first State in the Country, which provided, on the recommendation of the Rajasthan High Court, appointment to first visually impaired candidate Mr. Brahmanand Sharma, in judicial service, who is presently posted as Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Deogarh in Rajsamand district. His service record shows that he has been performing better than many other able bodied Judicial Officers and has become a source of inspiration for others.
Mr. M.S. Singhvi, learned Advocate General, assured the Court that he shall have the issue of taking over the school being run by the Sangh, examined in the right earnest and apprise the Court of the decision taken by the Government in this respect on the next date.
List the matter on 12.12.2019.
Office to provide a copy of this order in the office of learned Advocate General for needful.
(NARENDRA SINGH DHADDHA),J (MOHAMMAD RAFIQ),J //Jaiman//287 (Downloaded on 23/10/2019 at 09:10:08 PM) Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)