In a bizarre incident, a principal in a government-aided school in Hathras district has kicked up a major controversy by segregating students into sections on basis of their caste and allotting teache
In a bizarre incident, a principal in a government-aided school in Hathras district has kicked up a major controversy by segregating students into sections on basis of their caste and allotting teachers on the same basis.
The principal has now been removed after a complaint was lodged against him.
According to reports, Radhey Shyam Varshney, the principal of the Seth Phulchand Bagla Inter College, had segregated students of class 9 into sections on the basis of their caste — Scheduled Caste, OBCs and general category.
Section A of Class 9 had more of general category students as compared with OBC and Schedule Caste, in the same way section B had more OBC students and similarly section C had more SC students.
He had also appointed same caste teachers in the class A general category teacher was appointed for a classroom having general students while a scheduled caste teacher was chosen for a classroom with SC students, and an OBC teacher for OBC students. The new “caste system” had been in force since April 1 when the new academic session began in the school.
A complaint about this caste system reached the district magistrate, Avinash Krishna Singh, who immediately asked the District Inspector of Schools (DIoS) to probe the allegations.
After the matter was found to be true, the principal was removed and further action against him is being contemplated.
“We had received a complaint of discrimination against the principal of the school for separating classes on the basis of caste. We conducted an inquiry and found that three sections — A, B, C — of Class 9 had difference in ratio over the distribution of general, SC and OBC students,” the district magistrate said.
He said the college authorities had been asked to rearrange the students in each class in an even manner and this should be done without delay. Some students had also alleged that discrimination was being done in the class on basis of caste in seating arrangements and admissions in the college. The principal denied the caste angle.
