Legislative council member Ramnath Mote has demanded that the post of education commissioner of school education be discontinued as it gives arbitrary powers to the incumbent to suspend teachers witho
Legislative council member Ramnath Mote has demanded that the post of education commissioner of school education be discontinued as it gives arbitrary powers to the incumbent to suspend teachers without following due procedures. In a letter to education minister Vinod Tawde which Mr Mote handed over in person on Saturday, he has enumerated instances of “capricious decisions” that have put the jobs of many education officials at stake.
Mr Mote, who represents the teachers’ constituency, said that the powers vested with the education commissioner are limitless and often misused.
Referring to some instances wherein the commissioner while exercising his powers had suspended the deputy directors of education like N.B. Chavan and Bhimrao Phadtare last year Mr Mote said that no proper procedure was followed. “Both Chavan and Phadtare were grade A officers and were suspended on a whim or due to pressure from various organisations. It is only after we petitioned Mr Tawde, the rights of suspending grade A officers were taken away from the commissioner,” said Mr Mote, adding that he had received numerous verbal complaints from grade B officers about the victimisation by the commissioners office without being given a chance to clear their stand.
The demand by Mr Mote comes in the wake of the commissioner demanding police security claiming he was under threat from various education department officials and teachers. “The decisions of the commissioner are one-sided and often arbitrary without taking the opinions and views of all stake-holders. Such unlimited powers are causing numerous problems to the affected,” said Anil Bornare, Mumbai president of Shikshak Parishad.
