Punjab: After uproar, Anandpur Sahib admn revokes order deploying teachers for crop survey

The Anandpur Sahib administration on Friday revoked an order deploying 25 government employees, including 21 teachers and block primary education officers, for a digital crop survey, after an uproar.

In an order issued on Thursday, Anandpur Sahib sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) had ordered the that the 25 staffers be put in non-teaching duties. The development comes even as the ‘Punjab Sikhya Kranti’, a state government initiative to inaugurate upgraded schools every day, and the enrolments are on full swing.

In the order on Thursday, the employees were asked to report to the tehsildar office at 8.30am on April 18 and be a part of the survey till April 20. Anandpur Sahib assembly constituency is represented by education minister Harjot Singh Bains, the driving force behind ‘Punjab Sikhya Kranti’.

Union members pointed out that the directive also seemed to contradict Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s repeated assurances: ‘teachers will only teach’.

Admitting to what he said was a ‘mistake’, Rupnagar deputy commissioner Varjeet Walia said, “It was a mistake. The digital crop survey has already been concluded and the SDM has officially revoked the order.”

This is not the first such incident. Earlier this week, six teachers from a government school at Sunet in Ludhiana were suspended by the additional deputy commissioner for failing to report for election-related duties. That order was withdrawn within hours after flak from teachers’ unions as well.

The Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) condemned the recent incidents, calling them a betrayal of the government’s commitment to educational reform.

“What kind of sikhya kranti is this,” questioned DTF state president Vikram Dev.