In a controversial move, the Manohar lal Khattar Government in Haryana has deputed more than 100 schools teachers to carry out “priest duty”, “count donated cash offerings” and “collection of stock material” at the annual Kapal Mochan Mela in Yamunanagar.
The Government order has been issued within a month of its another unprecedented move of deputing teachers for long night duty to monitor stubble burning cases in Sirsa district.
After coming to power in Haryana, the BJP-led State Government has been keeping teachers busy in non-teaching activities.
The Government’s latest decision to depute teachers to perform “priest duty” and other works at five-day long Kapal Mochan Mela from October 31 to November 4 has drawn flak from teachers’ associations and opposition parties, who have accused the ruling BJP of promoting its Hindutva agenda
The order was issued by Yamunanagar Deputy Commissioner on October 27 wherein school teachers from the district were asked to carry out “priest duty”, “count donated cash offerings” and “collection of stock material” from temples to transfer it to nearest storage point.
More than 100 teachers have been assigned to perform the job of priest in three shifts i.e. from 7 am to 3 pm, 3 pm to 11 pm and 11 pm to 7 am at various temples, ghats and other locations during the fair.
Similarly, the teachers have been told to perform other duties in three shifts at Kapal Mochan, Rin Mohan, Suraj Kund, Adi Badri Kedar Nath, Mata Mantra Devi, Saraswati Udhgam Sthal among other places during the fair.
Those deputed for priest duty were also asked to report on October 29 for training. When several teachers failed to turn up for the training session, the administration in a letter issued on the same day had sought an explanation from them and also warned them of taking disciplinary action if these teachers fail to attend another session to be held on October 30.
Every year, lakhs of pilgrims from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi reached Yamunanagar for the five-day mela.
As the orders have stirred a controversy, Chief Minister Manohar lal on Wednesday defended it saying that such orders are not issued by his Government but might have been issued by district administration.
Justifying the move, Jawahar Yadav, BJP spokesperson said the order had been misinterpreted. They were not forcing anyone to become priests or pushing a religious agenda, he said.
The order has asked few teachers to help make arrangements for the festival at the district level, and it would not hamper regular classes, he added. The Government, however, is facing the protest of teaching fraternity over these orders.
“The teachers should not be deputed for such non-teaching activities. Such orders are wrong as education of students is affected in the state,” said Deepak Goswani, general secretary, Rajkiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh, Haryana.
He said they had written a letter to the Chief Minister and Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma urging them to not deputy teachers for non-teaching works. Earlier also, teachers were deputed to keep a check on cases of stubble burning at Sirsa, said he.
Recently, the district Sirsa had enlisted teachers to keep a watch on stubble-burning, a major environmental problem in the state and neighbouring Punjab. The order, which meant all-night vigils by teachers before their day jobs in schools had also provoked anger and protest.
Notably, the teaching staff in the past three years have been engaged in non-teaching activities of celebrations like Swachhta Hi Sewa, Gram Samridhi evam Swachhata Pakhwada, Yoga day, Saraswati Mahotsav, International Gita Mahotsav, Haryana’s Swarna Jayanti year among other festivals celebrated during the tenure of BJP Government.
Instead of focusing on improving the declining academic standards in Haryana’s schools, the BJP Government has kept the teachers busy in various non-teaching activities.
Criticizing the Haryana Government, former Education Minister and senior Congress leader Geeta Bhukkal said that this is unfortunate that the BJP Government is deputing teachers on a duty at an annual fair.
The Government should have made arrangements for the Kapal Mochan fair. Academic standards are already declining in Haryana and instead of improving it, Haryana Government is deputing teachers on non-teaching activities. The BJP is pushing forward its Hindutva agenda in education system, she added.
In another controversial decision recently, the State Government had barred the school teachers from stepping inside the classrooms with mobile phones.