HC urges strict use of Pavitra Portal for teachers' recruitment, asks state to draft SOP

Mumbai, Oct 29 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has stressed strict adherence to the government's Pavitra Portal for teachers' recruitment and directed the state to formulate a "fool-proof" SOP to ensure availability of the system to all schools and colleges.

A bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Ashwin Bhobe, in the order passed on October 16, said that at present there are several educational institutes across Maharashtra that conduct recruitment process privately under the garb that the portal was not functional or they were not provided with a login ID.

"There has to be strict adherence and utmost discipline to the Pavitra Portal recruitment system," the HC said in the order, a copy of which was made available on Wednesday.

The bench directed the principal secretary of the state's Education and Sports Department to constitute a high-level committee of at least three members to inspect all educational institutes and submit a report.

The government shall then initiate remedial action against the erring institutions.

The court said it was imperative for the government to ensure that the Pavitra Portal is functional for all institutions and login IDs should be provided to them.

It ordered a fool-proof Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be formalised by the government on the availability of the Pavitra Portal and continuous uploading of names of surplus teachers on it.

The SOP shall be formulated by March 2026, the high court said.

The bench said it has come across several such cases where educational institutes have made private appointments as the state education officer failed to furnish the list of surplus teachers.

The state government ought to strictly deal with such erring officers, the HC said.

If, despite a system available for recruitment, educational institutes are allowed to privately recruit teachers, then this would practically neutralise the Pavitra Portal, the court said.

"We did not expect such a deteriorating situation. The state government needs to hold every education officer accountable and should deal with the issue with a firm hand," the HC added.

The order was passed on petitions filed by a bunch of teachers and the Sudhagad Education Society from Raigad district, challenging the rejection of their proposal seeking approval for their appointment as Shikshan Sevak.

The teachers were appointed as Shikshan Sevak in 2022. As per the petitioner institute, the teachers were recruited by the management privately, as the government's Pavitra Portal System was not activated.

The government said it rejected the institute's proposal for approval of the petitioners as Shikshan Sevak, as the Pavitra Portal, a systematic platform for recruitment of teachers, was available and a login ID was allotted to the petitioner institute.

The institute ignored the portal system and went ahead on its own for the recruitment of teachers, the government said.

As per the government, in 2017, a decision was taken by which even private education institutes had to recruit teachers only through the Pavitra Portal. The institute, in the last eight years since the portal was activated, has not appointed any teacher through the system, it added.

The bench in its order noted that the Pavitra Portal was functional and a login ID was allocated to the petitioner institute.

The institute has made recruitment privately since 2017 and has always taken a stand that the Pavitra Portal was non-functional, the HC noted.

When the Pavitra Portal was activated and the login ID was also available, the petitioner institute could not have indulged in a private recruitment process, it said. PTI SP GK