HC summons UP Basic Education Board secretary over denial of transfer to teacher with cancer

Prayagraj, Nov 21 (PTI) Expressing dissatisfaction with the reply submitted by the secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Board, Prayagraj, in a matter related to the transfer of a teacher battling cancer, the Allahabad High Court has directed the official to personally appear before it on the next date of hearing.

Earlier, the court had criticised the official for rejecting the transfer plea of Assistant Teacher Kalpana Sharma, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, despite a prior direction to consider her case "sympathetically".

Justice Prakash Padia passed the order on Thursday. Sharma, who is posted in Shahjahanpur, had sought a transfer to Ghaziabad, where she is receiving chemotherapy at the Max Cancer Centre.

The court had previously said it was "very much shocked and surprised" that the authorities, instead of considering the case of the petitioner sympathetically, rejected her request on a technical ground -- that only two teachers were posted at her current school, whereas state government policy mandates three teachers for schools with at least 26 students.

The bench expressed disbelief at the reasoning and noted that it frequently encounters cases where schools with over 36 students have only one teacher.

The court said it was not satisfied with the explanation given by the secretary of the board in the affidavit. It then directed the official to appear before it in person on the next date of hearing in the matter.

In September last year, the court had disposed of Sharma's earlier plea by directing authorities to decide her representation "sympathetically", given her ongoing treatment in Ghaziabad. PTI COR RAJ RHL