‘No place for feudal mindset’: Delhi teachers' training file sent to LG again

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said the file - on teachers' training in Finland - has been sent yet again to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. The training of the government school teachers has emerged as a major issue of contention between the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) government and the Delhi LG. Earlier this week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal - along with his deputy Sisodia - had led a march to the LG's office in the national capital. The next day, he lashed out at him in the Delhi Assembly where he said: "Who is LG? Where has he come from? I am the Chief Minister of the national capital, and I have been elected by over two crore people of the city."

The comments were criticised by BJP leaders, who said he had lowered the grace of the Chief Minister's office. LG Saxena on Friday wrote a letter to Kejriwal and took a swipe over the "Who is LG?" remark. "Refer to the Constitution," he said. He also responded to the Aam Aadmi Party chief's "he is not my headmaster" comment. "I am not your headmaster but only a benign voice of the people," the LG said in his letter, which also prompted a response from the Chief Minister.

“When [the] world calls Delhi the rape capital, then people of Delhi hang their heads in shame. The rate of crimes is rising continuously and it has become difficult for women to step out of their homes...people of Delhi have not seen your work on law and order but you are always seen to be interfering in the works of the elected government,” Kejriwal wrote in his response, not showing any signs of tensions easing. The Delhi Police comes under the purview of the central government.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, as Sisodia later in the day said that the file - which was returned earlier with recommendation of "cost benefit analysis" by the LG's office - was sent again, the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister also shared a sharply-worded letter that mentioned "feudal mindset" among "elite class of the country". "Such regressive feudal mindset should have no place in 21st century," the letter further read, which cited a 2018 judgement of the Supreme Court to underline that the LG "does not have the power to order such cost benefit analysis." "There is no independent authority vested in LG to take decisions," the letter further underlined. The LG's office has repeatedly stressed that it had not rejected the proposal.

The teachers' training is among the many issues that have intensified the standoff between the two sides.