JAMMU: Directorate of School Education, Jammu on Monday cancelled the promotion and adjustment orders involving nine teachers with distance mode B.Ed degree holders who figured in the list of 368 teachers promoted as Masters.
STATE TIMES, in its March 3, 2017 issue, had carried an exclusively report, “Guidelines Violated to favour blue eyed; Mocking SVO, DSE Jammu promotes, adjusts 368 Masters”, exposing that distance mode B.Ed degree holders were included in the promotion cum adjustment list despite the government guidelines about promoting only those teachers possessing B.Ed degrees through regular mode.
On Monday, the DSE Jammu cancelled adjustment orders of distance mode B.Ed degree holders who were promoted vide Order No 137- DSEJ of 2017 issued on February 28, 2017.
The teachers whose promotion cum adjustment orders have been withdrawn include Raj Mohani Rathore, Ranjana Mannas, Radha Rani, Manpreet Kour Bhuttar, Joginder Kumar, Ritu Chopra, Vijay Sharma, Gita Sharma and Anju Bala.
The order of adjustments of 368 masters was issued at a time when the Post Graduate Teachers Association is demanding scrapping of the controversial promotion list of 2014, which was issued despite no vacancies of Masters. The Association alleged that the adjustment of 368 teachers as Masters proved that the Education Department doesn’t care for the cases registered under two FIRs by the SVO.
Over a dozen teachers, having regular B.Ed degree, were dropped while those with distance mode degrees were promoted and adjusted accordingly. “This showed the level of irregularities at the level of the office of Directorate of Education, Jammu”, alleged the aggrieved teachers.
It may be recalled that an 11-member SIT, comprising five Principals and six clerks, was constituted by the Director School Education on 15th November, 2016. After three months of hectic exercise in the wake of Vigilance FIR and a case in High Court, the DSE had put off the exercise to adjust controversial promotees of 2014.
Some of the teachers, Radha Devi (S.NO 106 in the shelved promotion list), Khema Sharma (S.No 487), Archana Ganju (S.No 646), Rajesh Sharma (S.No 418) and Vinay Sharma (S.No 442) had lodged protests in the Directorate. However, no one listened to them.
“The Director refused to entertain our representation,” aggrieved teachers told STATE TIMES, adding “corruption has gripped the Education Department and teachers are becoming victims of bureaucrats and politically influenced administration.
In 2014, 1193 teachers were promoted as Masters which included 25 blue eyed who were adjusted the same year. Many of them possessed fake degrees yet the DSE Jammu remained mute. They (fake degree holders) are drawing higher grade salaries for the past over three years now, said Naresh Kumar, President of Post Graduate Teachers Association.