Junior college teachers protest against corruption

Over 300 teachers from junior colleges across the city assembled at Azad Maidan on Wednesday to mark their protest against the corruption in the Education Department. After holding a dharna,the teachers met school Education Minister Rajendra Darda to put forth their demands.

Under the banner of Mumbai Junior College Teachers’ Union (MJCTU),the teachers staged the protest citing corruption by employees at the deputy director’s (school education) office located on Charni Road. They alleged many employees of the department have been demanding bribe from teachers to get their posts approved. Anil Deshmukh,general secretary of MJCTU,said,“It has been going on for the last few years and our union has filed several complaints,but to no avail. We had also staged protest at the deputy director’s office in January this year. We cannot deal with these corrupt officials anymore.” The union also alleged that one of the assistant directors has been threatening the teachers. Deshmukh said,“Approval of some teachers was done through the union. Due to this,officials at the department lost out on their commission and had tried putting pressure on these teachers through the principals of their respective colleges to pay them.

The union has also demanded to restart the junior college section at Chinai and MVLU college,which was closed down in the academic year 2009-10. Darda said,“We will discuss this matter with the deputy director and set up an inquiry. About Chinai and MVLU college issue,the matter is in court,but still we will look into it. We will also look at resolving the issues put forth by the union.”