BHUBANESWAR: The state government’s decision to allow MPs and MLAs to recommend transfer of 15 school teachers every year has thrown up a new problem before the parliamentarians and legislators.
Faced with a deluge of transfer requests and not willing to antagonise their constituents, the political representatives seem to have been left in a quandary. Such has become the pressure that the BJD MLA from Kendrapara Ganeswar Behera has sent an SOS to the government to either rescind the May 13 order of the School and Mass Education (SME) department or take away the assigned authority from him as a legislator.
In a letter to SME minister Nityanada Gond, Behera has requested him to withdraw the order allowing MPs and MLAs to recommend maximum 15 cases of transfer or remove his powers as a legislator.
“The department has authorised each MLA and MP to recommend only 15 transfer cases, but I have already received 81 request letters with warning from individual applicants that if their cases are not considered, I should not expect their cooperation in future,” he told mediapersons here.
The former minister said if he recommended the applications of 15 teachers, he would not be able to give justice to the remaining 66. Besides, the number of applications requesting for transfer will increase every year.
“Just imagine how many people I am going to antagonise in the next four years because of this faulty government order. This problem is not limited to me. All MPs and MLAs with whom I have discussed this issue have similar concerns and also want a rational transfer policy,” Behera said.
Referring to the government order which said that priority should be given to teachers with urgent need for transfer, Behera said more than 70 percent cases that have come to him are genuine and demand immediate attention. The remaining 30 percent have come with recommendations from local or other powerful leaders. “An MLA or MP will only take the wrath of the teachers for nothing. How far is it justified,” he asked.
“I have requested the S&ME Minister to formulate a rational transfer policy in consultation with the stakeholders, make it public and implement it without any discrimination. Else, keep me out of the purview of the recent order as I am unable to handle the pressure,” he said.