The irony is that perforce the judiciary has been made to perform the function of the executive. It is a reflection on the way administration is run. When the administration fails to perform its duty and the sufferers of this attitude appeal to a court of law, obviously the court has to examine the case and announce the verdict.
The case in point is of High Court’s judgment in the case of functioning of Board of School Education (BOSE) and owners of Elementary Teachers Training in which the court has expressed anguish on non compliance of the Board and the private colleges of the State that are running courses for Elementary Teachers Training. Very disturbing and bitter picture of negligence on the part of the functionaries of Board of School Education (BOSE) and private colleges has emerged from the findings of the court. It discloses that no fewer than 160 ETT colleges are defaulters as these have not applied for renewal of NOC despite the warning given to them in time. Secondly somewhat casual and irresponsible attitude has been adopted in running the ETT colleges. They have made large number of admission but without ensuring proper infrastructure to accommodate the admitted number of students. In many areas they fall short of the recognized standard. This means that these colleges have become a money minting machine without delivering. The students have certain rights when they are admitted to an educational institute and if those rights, facilities and conditions are not met, it will generate very wrong impression in the mind of the students. The Crime Branch which has conducted a survey and submitted the report shows that there are major discrepancies in the administrative mechanism both at the BOSE and ETT colleges. The impression one gathers is that there is a nexus in violating the instructions of the court issued from time to time and in different cases. For example during 2007-9 session 5,032 candidates in the Kashmir Valley were permitted to take the ETT course, but the BOSE could not make available admission forms for the candidates. Therefore, it could not be verified whether or not the candidates have actually applied for the said course, the bench added. It is difficult to decide whether this was a deliberate action, a lapse or negligence and inefficiency.
The Division Bench of the State High Court has ordered that the ETT Colleges that have failed to submit applications for renewal will not be allowed to make admissions for the session 2013-15. It has also ordered that defaulters should be dealt with sternly. The question is that by not allowing 160 institutes to make admissions for the new session, it is the student community that will be put a big loss. The Court does not propose an alternative for the prospective students. Education is a right given to all Indian citizens by the Constitution, and closing down the institution or ordering deferment of admissions for a particular session is indirect punishment to the students. We very much appreciate the verdict of the court that defaulters should be given an exemplary punishment because they are playing with the career of student community. More surprising is the attitude of the authorities, which have not pursued their responsibility of asking the colleges to complete documentation and make themselves eligible for admissions to next session. The Government is willing to take action only when the case has been brought to the court of law. If it had not been brought, nothing would have happened and illegally running ETT institutions would continue minting money and floundering the orders of the High Court.
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