22 hrs ago
Punjab Deploys Teachers for Ration Card Verification Before Exams
The Ludhiana administration asked many government school teachers to check applications for new ration cards.
The cards are connected to Punjab’s Meri Rasoi food-support scheme.
The work was assigned just before school examinations.
Teachers said this could leave schools without enough staff to prepare students.
They also said the law generally limits teachers’ non-school duties.
The administration said it did not have enough other employees for the task.
Teachers were asked to report and mark their attendance.
The article gives two different numbers for the deployment: 685 in the headline and 658 in the report.
The Ludhiana administration ordered government school teachers to verify ration-card applications under the Meri Rasoi scheme.
The article headline cites 685 teachers, while the report’s body says 658 teachers were deployed.
The assignments came shortly before internal examinations in Punjab’s government schools.
Teachers called the move a violation of Section 27 of the Right to Education Act.
The administration said staff shortages required teachers to perform the verification work.
- Who
- The Ludhiana district administration assigned government school teachers, with SDM Jasleen Kaur Bhullar issuing the order.
- What
- Teachers were directed to verify applications for new ration cards under the Meri Rasoi scheme.
- Where
- Ludhiana district, Punjab.
- When
- The order was issued on Friday and received by teachers on Saturday, shortly before internal examinations.
- Why
- The administration cited a shortage of staff and the urgency and sensitivity of verifying beneficiary applications.
Teachers’ concerns
Administration’s justification
Use of teachers for welfare work
Teachers’ concerns
Teachers said Section 27 limits their non-educational duties and that ration-card verification is not among the permitted exceptions.
Administration’s justification
The administration said the work was urgent and sensitive, and that a shortage of staff required teachers to be assigned.
Impact on examinations
Teachers’ concerns
Teachers said the deployment could leave schools without enough staff to prepare students for upcoming internal examinations.
Administration’s justification
The administration’s order instructed education officials and schools to arrange replacements for employees already assigned elsewhere or transferred.
Repeated non-academic assignments
Teachers’ concerns
Teachers said they had already been assigned census, election-related, and welfare-scheme duties, pulling them away from classrooms.
Administration’s justification
The administration emphasized the immediate verification needs of applicants for the Meri Rasoi ration-card program.
Key facts
- Reported deployment
- The headline says 685 teachers, while the article body says 658.
- Assigned task
- Verification of applications for new ration cards.
- Government scheme
- Punjab’s Meri Rasoi scheme.
- Issuing official
- Jasleen Kaur Bhullar, SDM (East), Ludhiana.
- Timing
- The duty was assigned as internal examinations were about to begin.
- Teachers’ objection
- Teachers said the deployment violated Section 27 of the Right to Education Act and disrupted academic work.
- Administration’s explanation
- The SDM said teachers were deployed because of a shortage of staff.
- Meri Rasoi provisions
- The scheme was announced as providing eligible families additional sugar, chana dal, mustard oil, salt and turmeric alongside wheat.
Quotes
A government school teacher
Teacher criticizing the assignment of ration-card verification duty
“This is a Teacher’s Day gift that the government has given us. Exams are about to begin and again we are being pulled out of classrooms. We understand that census and election duties are part of our responsibilities, but why are we being dragged into the government’s populist schemes?”
indianexpress.com
“After Drug Census and Population Census, I have now been put on ration-card duty. The exams are here and there are no other teachers in our school to prepare the students.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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