Govt teachers oppose duty to check open defecation
JAIPUR: Chief minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday held a ‘jan sunwai’ to hear grievance of people at her official residence in Jaipur. After meeting the people from Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts, Raje ordered tehsil, sub division and district level officers to take public hearing seriously and immediately resolve the problems. “A division-wise public hearing has been initiated to reach out to the people for knowing the problems being faced by the people and whether their grievances were being resolved effectively or not,” she said. JAIPUR: Government school teachers in Sanganer area are opposing the Jaipur district administration’s order asking them to accompany panchayat officials for keeping a check on open defecation in villages.
Recently, Sanganer subdivisional magistrate (SDM) Ashok Kumar Sharma directed teachers to patrol the villages at 5 am on October 13, 14 and 15. The decision was taken in view of the Swachhta fortnight being observed from October 2 to October 16.
The district collector instructed Sharma to ensure open defecation is stopped and the people are urged to use toilets. Patrol teams will blow whistles and beat drums to shame people caught defecating in the open and also counsel them.
“The administration is repeatedly and deliberately troubling the teachers and compromising their dignity. They should only exhort the teachers to teach and not engage them in any other work,” Ram Krishna Agrawal of All Rajasthan State Teachers’ Union said.
But Sharma asserted everyone has to contribute to cleanliness. “Other departments have been roped in too. It’s just that some people don’t want to work.”
In September, Sharma issued an order asking government teachers to prepare the progress report on construction of toilets in their gram panchayats. In June, the Jhalawar administration instructed teachers to go out at 5am with teams and click pictures of people defecating in the open. Both the decisions had drawn flak from the teachers’ association.
The administration is repeatedly and deliberately troubling the teachers and compromising their dignity. They should only exhort the teachers to teach and not engage them in any other worka
RAM KRISHNA AGRAWAL, a member of state teachers’ union