Congress walk-out demanding withdrawal of check-post attendance of school teachers

BHOPAL: The opposition Congress on Friday staged a walk-out in the

Madhya Pradesh state assembly

over the issue of

check-post attendance

verification of

government school teachers

in Gwalior district. The matter was raised by Congress MLA from Bhitarwar seat

Lakhan Singh Yadav

during the Question Hour. It is a new system introduced by the department of school education to ensure 100% attendance of teachers that they have to verify they are going to school that day and at the right time at a check-post.

“We have heard of transport and police check-posts before but never a school masters’ attendance check-post,” observed leader of Opposition Ajay Singh. “This can only happen in this government and we all know the condition of school education in the state.”

Lakhan Singh Yadav said that CEO Gwalior district under orders number 2630, 2713 and 2715 dated October 4 and 23, teachers of Ghatigaon, Dabra and Bhitarwar in Gwalior district have been asked to register their attendance at check-posts. He told the House that teachers have to travel 15 to 20 kms in the opposite direction to the check-post just to register their attendance. “Do you think this is a practical solution? And teachers are being humiliated as though they shirk work,” Lakhan Singh Yadav said.

In reply, minister of state for school education Deepak Joshi said that the department was receiving large number of complaints about the absentee teachers especially from these areas in Gwalior. Hence the government made their attendance marking mandatory at the check-posts.

Senior Congress MLA

Ram Niwas Rawat

said, “What if he just put his attendance at the check-post and went back home?” Congress legislators argued that monitoring needs to be done by the district education officers who should visit schools to ensure if teachers are there. “Take action when you find teachers absent during school hours. Instead, the department is humiliating them and what kind of monitoring is marking of attendance in a check-post?” he asked. Lakhan Singh Yadav demanded that the system be immediately withdrawn. However, Deepak Joshi argued that the government is presently drafting a Siksha Mitra Act which will introduce a provision to ensure attendance of teachers. “Once that Act is passed, we will withdraw this attendance at check-posts regulation. But we did the same to resolve 434 complaints the department received about absentee teachers,” he explained.

Congress was not convinced and asked what if it takes another six months to draft the new rules and staged a walk-out. Minister for revenue Uma Shankar Gupta quipped, “This is the dual character of the Congress party. They want improvement in education and when the government takes the initiative, they protest.” Minister for panchayats and rural development Gopal Bhargava alleged, “There was a time during the erstwhile Congress regime when teachers were deployed to run the liquor shops.”