Anandpur Sahib: Amid Sikhya Kranti, SDM orders teachers to conduct digital crop survey, revokes it later

The order to conduct a digital crop survey came at a time when teachers were busy with ongoing enrolments and new admissions.

The order stated that 25 employees, including 21 from the education department, comprising teachers and block primary education officers (BPEOs), to move into the fields from April 18 to 20 to conduct the digital crop survey (DCS) launched by the Punjab government.

The order asked the employees to report to the tehsildar office at 8.30 am on April 18 and warned against any negligence.

The survey order came, even as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann repeatedly said that “teachers will only teach and won’t be burdened with any non-teaching and administrative work”.

Later, the Anandpur Sahib SDM issued a two-line fresh order Friday, stating the previous order was being revoked with immediate effect.

Ropar Deputy Commissioner Varjeet Walia told The Indian Express, “It was a mistake. We have already concluded the digital crop survey. The SDM has revoked the order.”

Earlier this week, the additional deputy commissioner (ADC) suspended six teachers of Government Primary School, Sunet in Ludhiana, for not reporting for election duty for the upcoming Ludhiana West bypoll. However, the order was revoked hours later.

The Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), in a statement, said such orders are inconsistence with the AAP government’s ongoing Sikhya Kranti. “There’s a stark contrast between what is being claimed and what is happening on the ground. Instead of focusing on new admissions, teachers are busy with non-teaching work. At least 18,000 teachers in Punjab have been given additional duties as booth-level officers (BLOs) for the election work. What kind of Sikhya Kranti is this?” asked DTF state president Vikram Dev.