Even as the schools have re-opened, the fate of teachers working at 22 Ashrama schools in the district for the past eight years, hangs in balance. In the general meeting of Zilla Panchayat convened on Tuesday, it was decided to call fresh tenders to recruit teachers and continue with the service of only those eligible among the serving teachers.

Zilla Panchayat President Suneetha Veerappagowda said that there are 83 such teachers and according to the guidelines fixed by the government, they have to be either TCH or B Ed graduates, a minimum qualification for eligibility to teach the students. According to the information available, of the serving teachers many do not meet the criterion.

Sounding tough, Chief Executive Officer G Satyavathi said if there is any resentment over going for re-tendering, it would be better to find a permanent solution to the issue with roping in the services of additional teachers from the education department.

Saying that the Ashrama schools will henceforth come under the purview of the district administration, the officer stated that an entrance test had been conducted to recruit teachers through Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK), a few months ago. But a few vested interests among them created a ruckus walking out of the test in the middle. Even those had failed to reach the expectations, scoring less marks.

The officer refused to bow to the demand made by a section of the members to continue with the services of the previous agency, through which teachers had been recruited to such schools. Substantiating her refusal, the officer said that the agency-Unique Security Services owes lakhs of rupees in the form of PF and ESI to the teachers.

Earlier when the house convened, ZP member Nandini K Chandrashekar was irked to know that most of the powers had been curtailed. Endorsing her, another member Sandesh wanted to know who actually transferred the jurisdiction of ashrama schools from ZP to DC’s office.

Another member Dwarkish exhorted the meeting, to resolve on continuing the services of existing teaching faculty at ashrama schools. 

Action against ‘suspended’ officer

A section of ZP members walked out of the meeting, only to return in a short while, demanding action against an officer for failing to provide proper information to the meeting.

When ITDP District Officer Lakshmana Raya denied having any knowledge on the educational qualification of teachers serving in ashrama schools -- the members especially C T Rajanna, Nandini K Chandrashekar among others demanded for suspending such officer, for having failed to acquire details even after years of their (teachers) appointment. They walked out of the meeting in the middle, and returned after sometime, only to reiterate their demand.

Acceding to the vociferous members, president Suneetha Veerappagowda said that she has instructed the CEO to initiate action against the officer.

But, it wasn’t enough for the members who stuck to their demand on suspension. The president clarified that the officer is already under suspension, but has brought a stay from Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT).