THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The General Education Department has withdrawn a circular issued by Director of General Education assigning Deputy Directors of Education to conduct qualitative scrutiny of literary works of staff in the department before granting permission to publish them. The circular was withdrawn after it stirred a hornet’s nest.
In a statement, General Education Minister V Sivankutty said the circular was withdrawn following reports that it was a system of censoring placed by the department on the literary work of staff. The circular contained only directions to be followed while granting permission to publish literary works submitted by employees after vetting.
“The circular doesn’t mean the work would be subjected to qualitative analysis by district deputy directors. Instead, they were told to cross-check details submitted in the affidavit along with the works as mandated by the code of conduct of government employees. Since the circular created confusion, the department decided to withdraw it. The government has no plans to curb employees’ freedom of expression,” he said.
The circular stated a copy of the work to be published should be given to deputy director of education along with an affidavit and the officer in charge should submit a report if it qualifies for publication after scrutinising the content.