Where UT Administration has failed to strike a balance

The arbitrary action of the UT Administration over inquiry reports pertaining to city schools and colleges hints at a selective approach by the authorities.

The arbitrary action of the UT Administration over inquiry reports pertaining to city schools and colleges hints at a selective approach by the authorities. Over the last one year,the Education department,on the direction of the Administration,has taken punitive action against some teachers on the basis of inquiry reports,sometimes acting on the very day a report was submitted; but in some other cases,it has kept mum even four months after reports were filed. The manner in which some of the cases have been handled has forced many people to question the Administration’s moves as well as validity of the probes. The manner in which the cases have been handled by the UT Administration is a clear manifestation of working on their own whims and fancies. The grounds on which action has been taken or not taken so far is beyond comprehension, said a senior faculty member of a city government college.

Molestation at Post Graduate Government College-46 in March
A woman lecturer of the colleged accused a male colleague,a music teacher,of molesting a girl student. The incident caused quite a flutter in the education fraternity. The issue was raised before Home Secretary Ram Niwas at the annual convocation of the college where he was the chief guest. He had responded immediately and marked an inquiry into the matter. The probe report was submitted to the Director Higher Education Ajoy Sharma within a week: in the first week of April; but neither the contents of the report nor the action taken by the authorities were revealed.Ajoy Sharma had claimed that the report was submitted after a thorough investigation,and action would be taken against the guilty: both if the music teacher was a molester,or if his woman colleague had framed him in the case. According to sources,the authorities are still waiting to find some evidence against the music teacher. In fact,it is learnt that the student deposed in favour of the music teacher and instead accused the woman teacher who had filed a complaint on her behalf.

Slapgate at GMSSS,Kaimbwala in July
The UT Education department has not taken any action in the matter where a student of the school slapped his teacher after the latter slapped him. An inquiry had been marked into the incident. Incidentally,the officials have not had time to read a six-page inquiry report submitted over 10 days ago. District Education Officer Chanchal Singh claimed that the officials could not read the report despite it being submitted on July 20; action will be taken only after the report is thoroughly studied,the official said. According to sources,the report submitted by Deputy District Education Officer Ram Kumar had found the teacher guilty of slapping the student first. Cases where instant action was taken against ‘guilty’ teachers

GMSSS-35 principal slapping student in May
The principal of GMSSS-35,Indu Bala,was transferred to her parent cadre,Haryana,by the UT Administration for slapping a girl who was laughing during a free period. Action was taken on the same day the inquiry report was submitted. It is to be noted that while several other inquiries had been undertaken by the department itself that had found Bala guilty of misappropriating PTA funds,but no action was ever taken.

St Johns High School slapping case of July 2009
The decision that was considered to go a long way in curbing corporal punishment in city schools was taken based on an inquiry conducted by the UT Administration that nailed a teacher of the school for slapping a Class III student. A probe conducted by the sub-divisional magistrate had found teacher Reema Talwar slapping Akshay Singh of Class III on several occasions,and had concluded it as an act of corporal punishment. While the Administration recommended legal action against the teacher,she was reported to be dismissed by the school.

Maltreatment of 11 students of GMSSS-47 in July 2009
As many as 11 Class XII students were maltreated here. For this,the Education Secretary terminated service of Karamjit,the physical education teacher,the same day a probe report was submitted.The students had been punished for not wearing proper uniform,said a complaint to the DPI (S). Some teachers claim the students were mistreated to the extreme,while the probe report said they were asked to open their shoes walk barefeet to the class.

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