Raj minister slaps colleague in tiff over teachers’ transfers

JAIPUR: Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers in Rajasthan were involved in a scuffle on Friday after a heated argument over the transfer of teachers, according to a witness.

Minister of state for health Banshidhar Bajiya went to the residence of state education minister Vasudev Devnani on Friday morning seeking the transfer of a few teachers from his constituency. Devnani refused Bajiya’s request, a person present at the meeting said.

A heated argument ensued between the two. Bajiya abused Devnani and also pushed him, said the person cited above, who was not willing to be identified.

“Devnani had already agreed to the transfer of 175 teachers from Bajiya’s constituency, but he had come up with fresh demands. There was a heated argument after Devnani refused to agree to fresh demands,” a BJP leader said on the condition of anonymity.

Devnani refused to comment. Bajiya could not be contacted as his cellphone was switched off. Officials in Bajiya’s office also refused to comment.

BJP media cell in-charge Anand Sharma confirmed that there was a heated argument between the ministers over the transfer of teachers but denied that Bajiya had slapped Devnani.

BJP’S Rajasthan in-charge, Avinash Rai Khanna, spoke to both ministers over phone, people familiar with the matter said. Khanna, however, refused to speak about the incident.

The incident comes on the heels of the resignation of MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari from the party on Monday.

“This is an unfortunate incident. It shows the extent of corruption in transfers of teachers. It seems that the ministers only care about self-interest and are not bothered with public interest,” said Rajasthan Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma.

The transfer of teachers has been a sensitive issue in the state, with allegations of political interference and corruption, regardless of which government is in power.

In February this year, the Rajasthan government issued an order asking party workers to forward requests seeking transfers of their relatives in the education department.

The head of schools and education officials have been directed by the education department to relieve or deploy a teacher only if they have been transferred through the Shala Darshan Portal, which has an online database of all schools. Recently, more than 12,000 elementary school teachers were transferred across the state.