Central Information Commission
Mr.Beena Shirivastava vs Cbse on 5 August, 2010
1
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Room No.296, II Floor, B Wing, August Kranti Bhawan, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi-110066
Telefax: 011-26180532 & 011-26107254 website: cic.gov.in
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2010/001205-DS
Appellant : Ms. Beena Srivastava, Agra
Public Authority : CBSE, Delhi(through Shri K.K. Choudhury,
Joint Secretary(Admn.)/CPIO; Shri Khushal Singh,
Asstt. Secretary; & Piyush Sharma, Asstt. Secretary)
Date of Hearing : 05/08/2010
Date of Decision : 05/08/2010
Facts:-
RTI request dated 22/01/2010 addressed to CPIO, CBSE, Preet Vihar, Delhi, regarding:-
(1) Retirement age at which teachers were retired by the St. Francis Convent School, Wazirpur Road, Agra;
(2) She also sought information regarding action taken on 04 complaints made by her in respect of retirement age adopted by the school; (3) Copy of NOC issued by State Govt. to the School. (4) B.Ed. Certificate in respect of Ms. Anjana Saramard; (5) Whether St. Francis Convent School, Wazirpur Road, Agra was paying salary to teachers as per the provisions of the VIth Pay Commission with copy of salary slips.
2. The CPIO, vide his order dated 22/06/2010, provided information that the retirement age adopted by the school for teachers is 58 years, and also, information in respect of point 2&3.
3. In respect of point 4, appellant was informed that the B.Ed. certificate of Smt. Anjana Saramard was not available with the Board.
4. In respect of point 5, salary paid by the school, as per salary slip available with the Board was provided to the appellant with the observation that the Board was not aware of the date from which the 6th Pay Commission recommendations had been implemented by the school.
5. Not being satisfied with the above information, the appellant preferred appeal before the FAA, which was disposed of vide FAAO dated 21/04/2010, stating that information is available with the Affiliation Branch of the Board, had already been provided, and that, no further information is available.
6. Being aggrieved and not being satisfied, the appellant preferred appeal before the Commission.
7. The matter was heard today i.e. 05/08/2010. Both sides were present as above. The appellant stated that she had suffered on account of early retirement by the school which was not following the norms prescribed under the VIth Pay Commission.
28. The respondent stated that all schools were expected to adhere to the bye-laws prescribed by the CBEC as a pre-condition to granting affiliation. However, compliance by the schools was an ongoing process.
9. They also stated that it was the practice of the CBSE to accept terms and conditions of teachers appointed by the schools affiliated to the Board in respect of a single teacher and it was presumed that other teachers were being appointed on the same terms and conditions DECISION
10. Respondents are directed to obtain an attested copy of the B.Ed. certificate of Ms. Anjana Saramard from the school and provide to the appellant.
11. Respondent is also directed to obtain a status report from the school regarding the implementation of the provisions of the VIth Pay Commission by the school along with date from which the provisions were implemented.
12. Above information to be provided to the appellant within 03 weeks of receipt of this order.
13. Using this as a test case, the Commission, in the interest of transparency in the administration of schools, directs the CBSE to issue notice to all schools affiliated to the Board to place on the schools' own website, copy of the gist of norms as provided at Annexure A forwarded vide letter dated August 5, 2010 from Deputy Secretary, CBSE, Delhi to the Commission along with a column showing the status of implementation of each norm. Enclosed herewith as Annexure A. The schools should clearly indicate the date from which each norm had been fully implemented and where the process is not complete, they should state that implementation is in progress and likely date of its full implementation.
14. Such suo moto disclosure as prescribed under section 4 of the RTI Act will provide a fair and clean work environment in which the teachers' rights will be protected in terms of their wages, leave, date of retirement and payment of arrears. It cannot be gainsaid that a dissatisfied teacher cannot provide the best learning environment to the students who will be disadvantaged if taught by a disgruntled teacher. This suo moto disclosure will also take a load off the Board in respect of number of complaints/RTI applications preferred before them because of lack of transparency. Since this is a time-consuming exercise, the Board is given 06 months to implement the above.
(Smt. Deepak Sandhu) Information Commissioner(DS) Authenticated true copy:
(T.K. Mohapatra) Under Secretary & Deputy Registrar 3 Copy to:-
1. Ms. Beena Srivastava, C/o George Thomas, 29/02, R.K. Puram, Near Taj Nagari, Agra-282001, UP.
2. Shri K.K. Choudhury, Joint Secretary(Admn.), CPIO, CBSE, Shiksha Kendra, 2, Commuunity Centre, Preet Vihar, Delhi-110301.
3. Shri Khushal Singh, Asstt. Secretary;
CBSE, Shiksha Kendra, 2, Commuunity Centre, Preet Vihar, Delhi-110301.
4. Piyush Sharma, Asstt. Secretary CBSE, Shiksha Kendra, 2, Commuunity Centre, Preet Vihar, Delhi-110301.