DEd candidates’ protest enters 32nd day

“I used to work for a telecom service provider and had taken a five-day leave to come and protest. A few days ago,they called me asking not to come back. My younger sisters are in secondary school and I supported their education. I don’t know what to do now. My parents are also very angry as in our village,girls don’t stay out of home for so long. But I can’t help it as this is my only chance at getting a good life for me and my family,” she added.

“We started our protest on July 15,but the school minister is yet to solve this problem. We have already given six representations to the state government. Primary Education Director Mahavir Mane says he has forwarded it to the government and it is upto them to decide,” said Vikas Lawande,city head,Yuvak Kranti Dal.

“The state is positively thinking over their demand. There are 1,663 vacant posts in the schools across the state,but we have to accommodate 734 teachers who are in excess owing to the closure of some schools after a school audit report,” said Mane.

In 2010,CET was held for DEd aspirants for jobs in government schools. Over 3,000 students cleared the CET but none of them were given jobs. “The education department kept on delaying our appointments. In 2011,we filed a petition in the Bombay High Court and it ordered the government to give all of us jobs by March 31,2013. But even after that we were not given jobs,” said Sachin Kale,a protester who had filed the petition.

“We approached the court again and on May 15 the HC asked the government to give us appointment letters along with salary with effect from March 7,2012. Till date,nothing has happened in this regard. Hence,we are continuing with our protest,” said Kale. He filed a contempt of court petition in the High Court on July 1 against the education department.

“Since the candidates have been agitating for a month now,they have run out of money. On Wednesday,we had to collect funds from the staff at the central building. We have collected some Rs15,000. We hope a positive outcome will happen soon,” said Lawande.

But many of the protestors are losing hope. “I am married and used to work for a coaching centre. I left the job to come and protest. My wife is nine months pregnant. How will we survive? My father is a small-time farmer and hardly earns anything. My entire family’s hopes are pinned on this,” said Gajanan Idhole,who is from Hingoli.

Month after merit list,DTEd applicants’ wait for admission schedule on

Candidates who had applied for Diploma in Teacher Education (DTEd) courses in the state and figured in the subsequent merit list announced in July are yet to get admission,waiting for the state government to announce the schedule.

Though there are nearly 90,000 seats for DTEd courses in the state,only around 20,000 applications were received this year. Hence,instead of arranging for an entrance test,a merit list prepared on the basis of the applications received was announced in the first week of July.

“One month has since passed and the government is yet to take a decision. We have not even applied for any other courses. If this continues,we will have to opt for some private course,which will cost a lot. The government must at least give us some idea about what is their future plan so that we can look for other options if this is not happening,” said a candidate.

“The admission procedure always begins very late. The final admissions are mostly completed only by October. This year,we decided to start the procedure early,so students have a lot of time. Just because admission schedule is not out yet,students need not worry. The state government is likely to give its decision on this year’s admission within a week and after that we will immediately begin the procedure,” said N K Jarag,Director,MSCERT.

Posters on civic issues at public places: Bankar seeks action

PUNE: Outgoing mayor Vaishali Bankar has sought action against the civic authorities that are responsible for pasting posters on the walls of the civic headquarters and other offices.

In a letter to the deputy municipal commissioner,Bankar said many departments would paste posters on various walls of civic offices to create public awareness on various issues,adding that these posters were not removed for a long period.

“If the citizens paste posters at a public place,the civic administration penalises them. However,no action is taken against the officers for spoiling the public places. This is improper and the rule should be same for all,” Bankar wrote,adding that any civic officer found to be allowing posters with civic messages at public places should face action.

17-year-old ‘abducted and raped’; two arrested

Pune: The Dattawadi police have arrested two youths on charges of abducting a 17-year-old girl from Nal Stop area and raping her in the early hours of Wednesday. Police said the girl had left home after a fight with her uncle with whom she stayed.

The suspects are Mangesh Suresh Pokle (24) of Dhayari and Satish Trilok Chavan (19) of Narhegaon. Police said two more persons allegedly involved in the crime were absconding.

The victim had been staying with her uncle after the death of her parents and is a school dropout. As per the complaint registered by her,the incident took place between 11 pm on Tuesday and 4 am on Wednesday. She said she had an argument with her uncle on Tuesday night and she left home around 8 pm same day.

The girl said she went to Nal Stop area and was looking for a lift to Swargate bus stand as she had only Rs 100 with her.

Senior Inspector Satish Govekar said: “She has told us that she was approached by four youths who took her to a building near Dhayari Phata in a rickshaw and gave her food.”

The complaint said the girl was raped by Pokle after that. Govekar said she managed to flee and took shelter in the nearby housing society where some residents helped her. She later approached the police and registered her complaint.

Special Judge Vinay Joshi remanded Pokle and Chavan in police custody till August 21. The suspects have been booked under Sections 363 (kidnapping),376 (rape),506 I (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Barve steps down as UoP’s journalism & communication dept head

Pune: Professor Ujjwala Barve has recently stepped down as the head of journalism and communication department of the University of Pune (UoP) following an order from the vice-chancellor. She was facing a probe into the allegations of manipulating internal marks of some post-graduate students during the year 2011-12.

The three-member fact-finding committee led by professor and head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration Yashwant Sumant was formed by the university in April 2012.

Speaking to Newsline,UoP Registrar Narendra Kadu said the V-C asked Barve to step down after he went through the report submitted by the panel.

Sachin Gorde,an alumnus of the Department of Journalism and Communication who deposed before the probe panel,said documents accessed under the RTI Act revealed manipulation of students’ marks by Barve.

“The internal marks for a couple of subjects reported to the university were different than what was communicated to the students on the notice board. It was clear that manipulation was done to benefit these students,” he said.

When contacted,Barve refused to share details,maintaining that she stepped down as per the orders. “I have been asked to hand over charge to A D Shaligram,which I have already done,” she said.