Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has directed MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar to launch an investigation into the alleged irregularities in the online teacher transfer policy in the civic body-run schools.
The mayor has asked the commissioner to look into reports of unauthorised offline transfers, which she said could lead to corruption. The online teacher transfer policy, introduced by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi earlier this year, was intended to make teacher transfers transparent and limit the scope for manual interference.
However, Oberoi pointed out that some transfers are reportedly being done offline, going against the policy's purpose.
"It has been brought to my notice that offline transfers are also being done in the Education Department, which is against the policy and breeds corruption. This is a matter of serious concern as the purpose of curbing corruption would be defeated," Oberoi stated in a letter to the commissioner dated November 2.
She also asked the commissioner to issue clear guidelines on the policy to prevent misuse. "I would therefore advise to get the matter investigated, and the appropriate actions be taken. It is supposed to be done at the most priority and a clear guideline may be issued in this regard to improve the functioning of Education Department," the letter further read.
Several teachers in the MCD schools have repeatedly raised concerns about alleged corruption in the online teacher transfer policy, claiming that arbitrary transfers and favouritism have occurred. Many of them also demand the scrapping of the online transfer policy.
"If there is an online transfer policy, then why are offline transfers being conducted? The online transfer policy should be revoked first.
After that, vacant positions should be displayed in schools based on the student-teacher ratio. Then, offline transfer applications should be requested from all teachers, followed by the issuance of a transfer list in a fair and transparent manner," said Kuldeep Singh Khatri, president of Shikshak Nyay Manch, a union of MCD school teachers. A committee should be formed to finalise the transfer list, including representatives from the teachers' organisations, Khatri said.
