State-aided Christian missionary schools have threatened to recruit teachers on their own if the government “keeps denying” them permission to fill vacant posts.

The Christian organisations running the schools alleged that around 1,200 teaching posts in the 300 aided schools — including Scottish Church, St Lawrence, Christ Church and Holy Child — had fallen vacant since the government stopped okaying recruitment three years ago.

Since the schools run on state grant, it is mandatory for them to obtain permission before recruiting employees.

“We will give one more reminder to the government and wait for a month. If the government fails to act, we will go ahead with recruitment,” read a resolution adopted by the founder bodies of the schools.

The meeting that passed the resolution was attended by Reverend Lucas Sirkar, the archbishop of Calcutta Diocese of Roman Catholic churches, and Reverend Ashoke Biswas, the bishop of Calcutta Diocese of the Church of North India, among others.

State education department officials attributed the denial of permission to the schools’ refusal to abide by the rules of the state and central governments on reservation of teaching and non-teaching posts for SC/ST candidates.

“The institutions have the right to recruit teachers of their choice but they cannot violate reservation rules which are applicable to all categories of schools,” said Sukumar Mahapatra, a joint secretary in the school education department.

Herod Mullick, the general secretary of Bangiya Christiya Pariseba, however argued that minority institutions did not come within the purview of the reservation rules.

He also claimed that the government had been withholding consent for recruitment because of “difference of opinion” with the missionary groups on a host of issues.

“The rules state that the schools take prior permission of the government for recruitment. But we want ‘prior permission’ to be changed to ‘prior intimation’. Secondly, during recruitment we give equal weightage to a candidate’s academic qualification, teaching abilities and the personality test. The government wants more weightage on academic qualifications.”

Organisations running the schools claimed that the National Council for Minority Educational Institutions would help them ensure that the state pays the salaries of the teachers recruited without approval. The council looks into complaints of denial of rights to minority educational institutions.