Latest news with #SLP
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
State will file Special Leave Petition in Supreme Court over Madras HC's RTE order, says Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi
School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi told reporters in Coimbatore on Saturday the State government will file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court of India, in connection with the Madras High Court's order on admissions under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act). 'We chaired a review meeting regarding this recently. Once the SLP is filed, after that the admission portal will be opened soon,' he said. The Minister was in Coimbatore to participate in a review meeting with school headmasters to assess learning outcomes based on the State-Level Achievement Survey (SLAS). On fund allocations, he said, 'the Central government's share of funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan has not been received. Under the RTE Act, the State has been paying advances on behalf of the Centre, expecting reimbursement later. However, for the past three years, over ₹600 crore has been withheld. It is unfortunate that politics is being played with children's education.' Speaking about the SLAS report, he said the survey focused on students' understanding rather than rote learning. 'It's not about memorising answers, but about actual comprehension. In Coimbatore district, Thondamuthur block was among the low-performing areas. We have prepared individual report cards not just for districts but for each school. Over 9.8 lakh students were assessed, and based on the outcomes, an action plan has been prepared to address the gaps and improve performance,' he said. Shortage of teachers Regarding the shortage of computer science teachers in schools and the current appointment of trainers in labs, he said a survey would be undertaken to assess vacancies. 'Trainers are being used as a temporary solution where posts are vacant. However, we recognise the need for full-time computer science teachers, especially since we are planning to introduce artificial intelligence and robotics in the curriculum. A permanent solution will be arrived at soon,' he added.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Bengal seeks 6 addl months from SC to pay 25% of DA dues
Kolkata: The Bengal govt on Friday filed a special leave petition (SLP) in Supreme Court praying for six more months to comply with its May 16 interim order directing the state to release 25% of dearness allowance (DA) arrears to its employees by June 27. In its SLP seeking modification of the SC's interim order, Bengal pointed out that the financial structure of Centre and states were different and that states depended largely on grant in aid from Centre for their financial resources. The Bengal govt also highlighted how Rs 1.8 lakh crore dues from Centre had come in the way of its financial health. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata Bengal said unlike other states, the beneficiaries of DA were not confined to state employees only. The Bengal govt grants DA to employees of state undertakings, state-aided institutions like schools and colleges and also to employees of local bodies, namely municipalities and panchayats. The Bengal govt said in its SLP that this additional liability was putting pressure on the state exchequer and pleaded that it required some more time to comply with the apex court order. Bengal has recently announced a 4% hike in DA for state employees, raising it to 18%. The raised amount, however, falls short of the central govt's 55% DA rate. M oloy Mukherjee, general secretary of Confederation of State Govt Employees, said it had sent a lawyer's notice to the chief secretary through email on Friday and would hand over a hard copy of the same to officials at the state secretariat on Monday. Mukherjee added that the confederation would file a contempt application against the state. Bengal's SLP, filed by the additional chief secretary, also challenged the impugned orders of Calcutta High Court stating that DA was a "discretionary" payment by an employer to an employee and could not be a matter of "compulsion". The state also challenged the linking of DA rate with the All India Cost Price Index.
Time of India
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Lectures hit out at TN govt over CAS benefit
Trichy: Seeking benefits of the career advancement scheme for lectures, the association of university teachers (AUT) expressed disappointment over the state govt for planning to challenge a high court judgment over the issue at the Supreme Court. "On one hand, the Commissioner of Collegiate Education issued a letter on June 9, instructing all regional joint directors to urgently submit updated CAS-related data of eligible teachers by June 10," K Raja of the AUT said in a statement. However, in a "contradictory move", it said, "a communication dated June 16 addressed to A Muraliraj, assistant professor of Mathematics, Urumu Dhanalakshmi College, Trichy, reveals that the govt has chosen to challenge a favourable high court judgment in the Supreme Court by filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) to deny CAS monetary benefits." Urging the authorities to honour the high court verdict, the association said that the CAS is a statutory right, not a privilege. "Any attempt to delay or deny it adversely affects the morale, dignity, and academic integrity of the teaching community," it added.
The Hindu
20-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Union slams T.N. govt. decision to move Supreme Court on career advancement scheme for guest lecturers
The Association of University Teachers (AUT) has expressed concern over the actions by the Directorate of Collegiate Education on the implementation of the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) for faculty of aided colleges. In an official release, AUT general secretary K. Raja said: 'On one hand, the Commissioner of Collegiate Education issued a letter on June 9, instructing all Regional Joint Directors to urgently submit updated CAS-related data of eligible teachers by June 10. This communication clearly signalled the Government's affirmative intention to proceed with the long-overdue CAS promotions with monetary benefits, offering hope and justice to thousands of eligible teachers in aided colleges. 'Surprisingly, in a completely contradictory move, a communication dated June 16 addressed to A. Muraliraj, assistant professor of Mathematics, Urumu Dhanalakshmi College, Tiruchi, reveals that the government has chosen to challenge a favourable High Court judgment in the Supreme Court by filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) with a motive to deny CAS monetary benefits due to the teachers. This action directly undermines the rightful claims of teachers, seeking career progression and represents a serious breach of trust.' The association demanded immediate withdrawal of the SLP and urged the authorities to honour the High Court verdict. 'The Career Advancement Scheme is a statutory right, not a privilege. Any attempt to delay or deny this right adversely affects the morale, dignity, and academic integrity of the teaching community,' the release said.
The Star
18-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Rethinking social and labour plans: from compliance to transformational community development
Mzila I. Mthenjane | Published 9 hours ago The consequences of climate change amplify vulnerabilities in communities, placing additional stresses on water availability, agricultural productivity, health outcomes, and infrastructure resilience, such as roads and housing susceptibility to severe weather conditions. Too often, when the disaster or distress hits, communities turn to mining companies to provide services and infrastructure. Despite this reality, there remains a disconnect between intention, impact, and outcomes in these interventions. Mining is on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation investment boom. The global population is approaching 10 billion people, and many parts of the world, including us, are pursuing a net zero economy towards 2050 and beyond. With an estimated $100 billion in additional capital investment in the resources sector required each year to meet the demand outlook associated with urbanisation and the decarbonisation of the global energy system, sizeable increases in material production and infrastructure are also necessary. For emerging economies, there is a narrow window of opportunity to seize now. Such growing demand brings an opportunity to benefit communities, countries and investors committed to enabling and facilitating the mining and investment activities needed to meet our needs, such as skills-to-employment ecosystem, generating local value addition and create revenue flows capable of decarbonized economic development. South Africa's mining sector is a significant driver of economic growth and critical for the socio-economic transformation of our society. Central to this transformation agenda are Social and Labour Plans (SLPs), elements of the mining licensing regime which were introduced through the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 to ensure mining contributes to sustainable community development. SLPs were conceived as strategic tools to promote socio-economic development, stimulate and broaden economic opportunities, and enhance skills development to support the creation of sustainable communities during and after mining. However, nearly two decades after their inception, the question remains: Have SLPs truly driven sustainable, transformative change within mining-affected communities This ongoing struggle reveals a fundamental disconnect between the institutional understanding of challenges within communities and the intended goals and actual community-level outcomes, raising the question of why there is this persistent gap and what are the possible solutions. Despite the significant resources mining companies have committed under SLPs, informed by local integrated development plans (IDPs), tangible and sustained improvements in the quality of life and long-term socio-economic resilience remains elusive. A significant contributing factor is the prevailing and compliance-driven mindset underpinning SLP implementation, amongst mining companies, regulator and beneficiaries. Too often, SLPs, being regulatory obligations, are limited from being approached as strategic investments for genuine socio-economic empowerment and, in today's terms, transforming communities in response to climate change and commence the just transition journey. As it stands, the law ringfences SLPs to individual mining rights, leading to less effective deployment of resources for joint projects which would deliver greater impact and minimise duplications. Such an approach frequently leaves underlying structural challenges unaddressed. For example, projects may initially improve conditions but deteriorate without municipal long-term planning, community stewardship, financial constraints and skills shortages to adequately sustain them. Under such a compliance framework, companies prioritise with local government , short-term deliverables—such as building municipal and district roads, donating to local charities, a clinic here and school classroom there, or sponsoring temporary initiatives—over comprehensive, sustained, and systemic socio-economic transformation projects. This situation ultimately limits the durability and scale of impacts, leading communities to cycle back into dependency and vulnerability. Even though, not directly affected by the SLP, lessons from the decommission of power stations, and associated mine closures in areas like Komati has brought this reality to the fore. Recently mining companies have been trying to pool their SLP projects with amendments to legislation also being advocated. The overarching idea is to bring the benefits of mining to communities through collaboration. But this is not often the case, as some IDPs do not exhibit the essential elements of integration along a clear developmental trajectory -resulting in sub-optimal developmental outcomes, leading to mistrust and finger-pointing. Whereas mining companies correctly complain of the failure of government in creating an enabling environment for development, host communities often bear the brunt of such failures, including poor service delivery and ineffective local economic development. A further complication is the apparent inadequacy of meaningful community engagement during IDP and SLP formulation. Inadequate measurement of actual impacts exacerbates the problem. Without robust metrics to measure true progress—such as improvements in health and education outcomes or enhanced local economic development—SLPs risk remaining exercises in compliance rather than vehicles for genuine and sustained socio-economic development. Furthermore, what is necessary to maximise this developmental impact through increased collaboration not just among mining companies within a municipality, but also with entities in other economic sectors. An appropriate legislative frameworks to guide collaboration between all economic players operating in the same mining region is urgently required. Mining companies, together with other economic players, government, communities and other stakeholders involved can reorient SLPs away from transactional, fragmented efforts towards comprehensive, integrated, and strategic frameworks. By doing so, SLPs can effectively contribute to the fulfilment of the developmental objective by serving as powerful catalysts for inclusive and enduring transformation in the communities that host South Africa's critical mining operations. Mzila I. Mthenjane is PCC Commissioner and CEO, Minerals Council South Africa.
