JAIPUR:Just a few months before elections in Rajasthan, the Vasundhara Raje government is embroiled in a fresh controversy, now over a Teachers Felicitation Program of one teacher each from the state’s 33 districts on September 5.
A government order has allegedly made it mandatory for all school teachers to attend this felicitation program that will be presided over by the Chief Minister herself. The order states that the salaries of those teachers would be cut who fail to attend the grand show.
The opposition has attacked the government over the controversial order and accused it of holding another grand show at the expanse of the public for electoral gains.
The Education Department that is organising the function in Jaipur, has made it compulsory for all teachers who got their jobs after December 13, 2013, the day when Raje took over as chief minister of Rajasthan, to attend this program. Around 50,000 teachers are expected to attend the event.
Bharat Vahini Party state president and former senior BJP MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari has attacked the BJP government for insulting teachers and politicizing the Teachers Day celebration.”By holding an event like this, the government is insulting teachers and maligning the education system. Teachers are not beneficiaries of any government schemes, they have got their jobs on the basis of merit. If government considers a teacher as a beneficiary, then the chief secretary is also a beneficiary”, he said.
Tiwari says the celebration is a scam. “Around Rs 44 crore will be spent on this mega event. With no provision in the state budget for such a Teachers Day event, this is an extra expenditure,” he said.
“Also, those who skip it, will be punished. Involving teachers in any such activity violates the RTE Act 2010 which allows the government to engage teachers only in activities like elections, Census and disaster management.”