It is teachers’ compulsion day: Tiwari

JAIPUR: Those who have joined before 2013 are not being considered as teachers, and those who have joined after 2013 have been threatened with disciplinary action if they fail to attend the event. GHANSHYAM TIWARI, MLA

Sanganer MLA and Bharat Vahini Party president Ghanshyam Tiwari on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the BJP government for “insulting teachers” in the name of organising a Teacher’s Day function in Jaipur on September 5.

Addressing a press conference at his party office in Jaipur, Tiwari said, “September 5 has been celebrated as Teacher’s Day since 1962, but this time it is being observed as teacher’s compulsion day in Rajasthan. Those who have joined before 2013 are not being considered as teachers, and those who have joined after 2013 have been threatened with disciplinary action if they fail to attend the event. I condemn this action of the government.”

The state education department is organising a state-level function near the state assembly in Jaipur to felicitate one teacher from all 33 districts. Schoolteachers appointed after December 13, 2013 – the day the Vasundhara Raje government was sworn in – have been invited to the function.

Tiwari cited orders issued by the education department officials threatening teachers with a pay cut for the day if they skipped the event. In another order, they were told to avoid the black colour in their clothes and accessories. Both these orders – copies of which are with HT – were later revised to remove these controversial clauses after widespread criticism.

Tiwari also slammed the government for felicitating one teacher from each district saying that every year 62 teachers are felicitated. He said that the government is spending more than ₹40 crore on the event.

Tiwari gave a breakup of the expenditure that included the travel allowance and three-day salary of teachers who have been given three day leave – two days for commuting and one day for attending the event.

State BJP spokesperson Satish Punia said that the party rejects all the charges levelled by Tiwari. “All teachers are free to attend the Teacher’s Day event. The education department has not issued any order, but certain district level officials had issued them and the orders have since been withdrawn,” he added.