APARNA CHOWDHURY REANG Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These petitions involve similar questions. Brief facts are as under:

(2.) Smt. Aparna Chowdhury Reang, petitioner of WP(C) No.290 of 2020 holds the qualification of graduation from Tripura University and Masters Degree from IGNOU. She was appointed as Assistant Teacher in a private aided school in the higher secondary section for a fixed monthly salary of Rs.2,730/-. Her service conditions would be governed by grant-in-aid code. Her appointment was approved by the Director of School Education, Government of Tripura on 10.09.2004 and petitioner joined the duty on 04.11.2004. Upon completion of 5 years, w.e.f. 04.09.2009 she was also brought over to regular pay scales. After 10 years of service she was granted benefit of First Assured Career Advancement (ACP) in terms of the Revision of Pay Rules, 2009.

(3.) The Government of Tripura invited applications for the post of Graduate and Postgraduate teachers in Government schools on 27.05.2017. The petitioner applied in response to the said advertisement after obtaining no objection from her employer. She was selected and offered appointment to the post of Postgraduate teacher in English in a Government school on a fixed monthly pay of Rs.22,785/- under office memorandum dated 30.06.2018. The petitioner accepted such appointment and after rendering her resignation which was accepted by the employer, the petitioner joined the duty on 05.02.2019. Her grievance is that in her new assignment as a Government teacher her pay has been downgraded. She would point out that as a teacher in grant-in-aid school, she was placed in the regular pay scale prescribed for a postgraduate teacher whereas in her new assignment as a Government teacher she has been granted salary on fixed pay basis which is much lower than her previous pay. She has, therefore, filed this petition praying that her past service in grant-in-aid school be counted for the purpose of her pay fixation as a Government teacher. In other words, she expects that instead of asking her to work on fixed pay structure for initial period of 5 years, she may be placed in the time scale of pay from inception.