134 govt school teachers on unauthorised leave dismissed since 2019, says Gujarat minister

Dindor said that while 12 teachers in Banaskantha and seven from Patan have been on unauthorised leave for over six months, they have not been paid any salary for this period.

Kharadi had cited the example of Bhavnaben Patel, a teacher from Panchha Primary School in Danta taluka of Banaskantha. Earlier this month, the state education department had ordered an inquiry over allegations that Patel was on the payroll despite settling in the US and remaining absent from duty for nearly eight years.

In his response, Dindor said Bhavnaben Patel has been dismissed from service after an inquiry established that she had been on unauthorised leave since January this year. “Six were sacked just yesterday (including Patel), while two teachers have sent their resignation, which has been approved by us,” he added.

After it came to light that Bhavnaben had remained absent from duty for years, the education department had decided to terminate the services of over 150 teachers who have been absent from duty for over a year. According to the data collated by the department, 60 of the 150 teachers are currently abroad.

In Banaskantha district alone, 12 government primary teachers and one secondary teacher have been found to be abroad for more than six months, Dindor said. Of the 12 absentee teachers from the district, six have been dismissed, he said, adding that resignations submitted by two teachers have been accepted and action is being taken against the remaining four. In Patan, all seven have been served notices, Dindor informed the House.

“Not a single teacher who is abroad is being paid,” he added.

Dindor said as per the attendance of teachers monitored online through Vidya Samiksha Kendra, steps are being taken against erring teachers. The centre based in in Gandhinagar tracks attendance of nearly 2.5 lakh teachers and 70 lakh students in over 42,000 government and aided schools.

He added the government has taken action against 130 teachers, including 70 who were absent for three months or more in 2023-24 to 2024-25 and 60 who were absent due to foreign tours. Ten teachers have also been dismissed from four districts and one municipal education committee and the rest will face similar action, Dindor said.

Dindor refuted claims that most of the missing teachers are Maths and Science teachers.

As reported by The Indian Express in 2022, more than 350 primary and secondary of government schools were found missing from duty between 2015 and 2020 – without informing the government. Among them, 99 reportedly went abroad. As part of disciplinary action, services of 128 of these teachers were terminated and another 70 were served notices. Between 2019 and 2022, action was taken against 665 teachers for remaining absent from duty for long. Among them, 113 were removed from service.