Lucknow: There is an acute shortage of teachers in government-run primary, upper primary and composite schools in Uttar Pradesh, despite the guidelines on the teacher-to-student ratio issued under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) of 2009.

The new academic session of Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Board schools is about to begin next month (April 1) but about 51,000 posts of assistant teachers are lying vacant in the government schools teaching classes I to VIII (primary and upper-primary) in the state, basic education minister Sandeep Singh confirmed in the state Assembly recently. However, Singh indicated that there will be no fresh recruitment drive for teaching jobs. 

Responding to a question asked by a Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA in the ongoing monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh, Singh, responsible for basic shiksha, said that under the recruitment process of 69,000 assistant teachers, a total of 6,696 candidates were posted in different districts in 20 months from April 1, 2021, to December 31, 2022.

“Presently, the basic education department is carrying out two recruitment drives. However, the recruitment drives are affected as cases against it are pending in courts. We will proceed with the recruitment drives according to the orders of the courts. Hence, at present there is no proposal under consideration regarding the creation of new posts for Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) passed candidates and conduct of teacher recruitment examination,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, in response to a question on the vacant posts of teachers in schools teaching Classes IX to XII, managed by Uttar Pradesh’s secondary education department, secondary education minister Gulab Devi said that 33,000 posts of lecturers and headmasters are lying vacant in 2,373 government and 4,512 non-government, aided secondary schools in the state. 

The minister informed the state Assembly that information regarding vacant posts of teachers has been sent to Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Service Selection Board (UPSESSB), Prayagraj. The process of appointment will start after the secondary education board will receive the list of candidates from UPSESSB, she said.

Virendra Mishra, national spokesperson of Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (RSM) accused Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of telling lies on the floor of the house. He said, “The government does not consider shiksha mitras (ad-hoc teachers) and anudeshak (instructor) teachers, but when it comes to showing the figure of teachers available as per the Right to Education (RTE) norms, the government considers them teacher and claims that they have an adequate number of teachers in the school. On the other hand, the same education minister, on the same floor of the Assembly, also accepted that 51,112 posts of assistant teachers are lying vacant in the government primary and upper-primary schools. Meanwhile, around 33,000 posts of lecturers and headmasters are lying vacant in government secondary schools and non-government aided secondary schools,” Mishra told NewsClick.

This acute shortage has forced teachers to carry out the responsibility of teaching all subjects — from English to Mathematics and from Science to Social Studies. They also supervise mid-day meal preparations and oversee transfer of money to the bank accounts of parents through direct benefit transfer for free school uniforms, books, shoes and socks. These teachers even have to undertake household surveys due to a lack of staff.

The Right to Free and Compulsory Child Education Act 2009 (RTE Act), mandates a pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of 30:1 in primary schools and 35:1 in upper primary schools.

Pointing out the shortage of teachers, he said, “There should be one teacher per 30 students in primary school and 35 in upper primary school. There are 1.92 crore students enrolled in state-run schools from class I to VIII. According to this, more than 1 lakh posts of teachers should be vacant, but the government accepted only 51,112 posts as vacant. Therefore, the children are not getting a quality education.”

According to the government data, there are around 5,000-7,000 government and aided schools which are either closed in the absence of teachers or have only one teacher, claimed Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh.

“The schools which are closed due to lack of teachers or are being run by a single teacher, what education is being provided there? Why doesn’t the government tell about this in the Assembly?” asked Mishra. 

Shiv Kumar Shukla, the president of Uttar Pradesh Prathmik Shiksha Mitra Sangh, told NewsClick, “The delay in filling up the vacant posts of teachers in government schools and colleges is overburdening the available teachers. On the other hand, the enrolled students are not receiving quality education. Filling vacant teachers’ positions should be the government’s priority.”

The shortage of teachers in primary, secondary as well as higher education has left the education sector severely crippled. 

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Lucknow: Zafar Ahmad Khan, a senior journalist with a news agency based in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda claimed that he was not given prior notice before the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) hammered down his house which he had rented out to Shaista Parveen, wife of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, the accused in the Umesh Pal murder case.

The demolition drive was carried out a day after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said in the state Assembly that his government will finish mafias operating in the state and will not spare anyone. Under this campaign, the civic authority demolished a house belonging to Zafar in Chakia, Kasari Masari locality under Dhoomanganj police station limits amidst tight security arrangements.

On Thursday, the authorities demolished the house of Safdar Ali, an alleged arms trader linked to Atiq Ahmed. Following Pal’s murder, Atiq Ahmed, who is lodged in Gujarat jail, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, and 11 others were booked following a complaint by Pal’s wife.

According to the police, Zafar is said to be a close associate of Atiq Ahmed and was accused of giving shelter to the shooter. The PDA officials also claimed that Zafar’s house, worth around Rs 3 crore, was built without getting the map sanctioned. “Two rifles, one sword, several documents including birth certificates, driving licenses, banners, posters and some photographs from the house belonging to Atiq’s wife and son were seized,” the PDA told the media.

Speaking to NewsClick, Zafar said, “I bought the house in January 2021 with my hard-earned savings through my brother-in-law Khan Saulat Hanif, who is an advocate by profession, from one local Meraj Siddiqui. Two months after the purchase, my brother-in-law sought my permission to put the house on rent. He did not inform me that Atiq’s wife will be staying. He only said I will receive Rs 20,000 every month as rent. I happily agreed and permitted him. When my house was rented out to Shaista Parveen, she was not booked in any case at the time,” Zafar stressed.

The journalist who has been living with his sister Shahnaz Parveen in the Gularnaka locality in Banda for the last eight years said that the keys and documents of the house were in the possession of brother-in-law Saulat Hanif Khan as he never went to see the house in the past two years after buying.

When asked about how he came to know about the house for sale, he said, “Obviously, my brother-in-law Khan Saulat Hanif had told me about this house. Rs 40 lakh was the last price quoted by the owner, but I could collect only Rs 27 lakh; that too after selling some of my wife’s borrowings from relatives. When I could not manage the full amount, the rest Hanif gave to me,” he said.

Zafar, along with his brother-in-law, is now gearing up to approach the Allahabad High Court against the “illegal demolition” carried out by the PDA.

“I have been a journalist for more than a decade in the state and there is not a single case against me at any police station. How can the administration demolish my house for giving shelter to an alleged criminal,” he asked.

Meanwhile, when a group of journalists, intellectuals, and activists claimed that the administration has demolished a house of a journalist in haste, the administration issued a press release saying it would look into the matter. “In the Prayagraj commissionerate, during the probe into the murder of Mr Umesh Pal and the proceedings against mafia Atiq Ahmed and his associates, it has come to light that the demolished house 297/205 F belongs to Zafar Ahmed Khan S/o Mohd. Habib Khan r/o 64 U. Era Convent School is situated in Gularnaka, Kotwali Nagar, District Banda,” the release reads.

“Zafar Ahmed Khan is a reporter with ANI in the district Banda, whose house located in Prayagraj has been demolished by the Prayagraj Development Authority. The district police are verifying and authenticating these claims. Whatever facts will come to light during the investigation will be made available,” the press release further reads.

NewsClick tried to speak to the PDA vice-chairman Arvind Kumar Chauhan, but did not get a response.

Meanwhile, Lal Babu Tiwari, a lawyer at the Allahabad High Court – whose house started displaying cracks after a demolition drive by the PDA – is also said to be angry with the demolition drive and reportedly plans to approach the court.

Commenting over the ongoing demolition drives, Yash Malviya, a progressive thinker and poet based in Prayagraj told NewsClick, “The Sangam city has been a city of educated people but the saffron government is leaving no stone unturned to paint the city as the city of mafias. It is unfortunate that without proper investigation and prior notice the house of a journalist was razed to dust. The journalist is known for his credibility here. The current regime does not believe in the judiciary and wants to deliver justice with bulldozers. This is the sinister face of the anarchy the government is feeling proud of.”

A similar controversy had erupted when the Uttar Pradesh government last year had demolished the house of activist Afreen Fatima after police named her father, Javed Mohammad, as the “mastermind” behind the protests against the now-suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s remarks on the Prophet. However, the government faced backlash when it came to know that the house was owned by Javed’s wife which was gifted to her by her father.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Lucknow: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)’s recommendation to trace non-Muslim children studying in all government-funded/recognised madrasas and shifting them to other educational institutes along with mapping all unmapped madrasas has triggered a fresh controversy in the state. The UP Madrasa Education Board (UPMEB) has unanimously rejected the NCPCR recommendations.

With the move sparking fierce criticism from Muslim organisations and Opposition parties, the Board chairman Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, while opposing the NCPCR recommendation, said it was “discriminatory” and goes against the tenets of the Madrasa Education Board. The students taking education can not be differentiated on the basis of religion, it added.

“We follow the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ and will never remove the students of non-Muslim faith from madrasa, shifting them to other institutions. This kind of practice should not be implemented in the education sector. If parents are sending their children to our madrasas, they will continue to study there,” Javed told the media.

He went on to add that “the madrasa education board has unanimously rejected the NCPCR recommendations.”

Speaking with NewsClick, Javed said: “PM Modi wants children studying at madrasas to hold the Quran in one hand and a computer in the other. Allowing a survey of children in madrasas of Uttar Pradesh is not right; it will encourage discrimination among children on religious grounds. Non-Muslim children are studying in madrasas and non-Hindu children are studying in Sanskrit schools. Children of every religion are also studying in missionary schools. I myself studied at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). The NCPCR should reconsider their letter.”

He added, “We will not allow a divide to be created between Muslims and non-Muslim communities as this goes against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) principle of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.”

Seeking that the Commission reconsiders its recommendation, Javed had stated that “we are providing modern education to children under NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) syllabus. Only religious education is not being imparted in madrasas.”

“If the NCPCR head has any evidence of forced religious conversion of any student or forceful admission of non-Muslim students in a madrasa, then he must share inputs and lodge an FIR,” Javed said.

THE ISSUE

The controversy started in December last year after a notification was issued to the UP Minority Affairs and Waqf Department wherein the NCPCR said that giving Islamic education to non-Muslim students was a violation of Article 28(3) and sought a reply within three days.

The Commission had also recommended all non-Muslim children studying in madrasas be admitted to other schools after the inquiry.

The decision was conveyed in a letter written by the NCPCR Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo, on December 8, 2022, to all Chief Secretaries, who had noted that children belonging to non-Muslim communities were attending government-funded or recognised madrasas. “It is also learnt by the commission that some States and Union Territories are providing them with scholarships too. “It is a clear-cut violation and contravention of Article 28(3) of the Constitution of India that prohibits educational institutions from obligating the children to take part in any religious instruction, without the consent of the parent,” the letter stated.

Madrasas, as institutions, are primarily responsible for imparting religious education to children, the commission said, adding it was learnt that those madrasas funded or recognised by the government were imparting both religious and to some extent formal education to children.

Meanwhile, soon after the UPMEB unanimously rejected the recommendations of NCPCR to inspect recognised madrasas in order to trace non-Muslim students and shift them to other educational institutes, the commission served a notice to the state government seeking a compliance report within three days.

Shuchita Chaturvedi, a member of the Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, attacked the madrasas and termed it unfair for non-Muslim children to study in madrasas.

MADRASA BODY WRITES TO PM MODI, PRESIDENT

The All India Teachers Association Madaris Arabiya — a teachers’ body has also written to the President and Prime Minister stating that NCPCR recommendations were violative of the Right to Education and go against the spirit of the Constitution of India.

Wahidullah Khan Sayeedi, the national general secretary of the organisation, stressed in the letter that such recommendations create “hatred and animosity” in society while also creating a sense of “suspicion and ill-will” toward madrasas.

Sayeedi said the issuance of such letters and directions for educational institutions “on the basis of mere complaints and imaginations” and “without any concrete proof or evidence” only harms their image. He also insisted that dividing educational institutions on the basis of religion, community or caste and creating a sense of animosity towards them on these lines was not right.

Saying that no student is given admission in any madrasa without the consent of their parents, Sayeedi has urged the President and the Prime Minister to take appropriate action on the letter of NCPCR’s chairperson.

MODI’S MADRASA MODERNISATION PUSH?

The Uttar Pradesh madrasa body and teachers’ association has expressed doubts over the Narendra Modi-led Union government’s intention that claims it wants to ‘modernise’ the syllabus of madrasas in Uttar Pradesh so that the students are also taught subjects like Math, English, Computer Science and Hindi.

The teachers’ associations alleged that for more than three years they have not been paid salary despite several protests in the state.

Badre Alam, a teacher in Gorakhpur told NewsClick: “Out of a hundred, four-five are Hindus in general, that too not enrolled in every madrasa. They come as they do not have a school nearby their house, we don’t bring non-Muslim children to the madrasa forcefully, they come with the consent of their parents. However, we don’t teach them Urdu and Arabic. If their parents ask us to teach Urdu, then we teach them.”

Muslim Khan, a madrasa teacher in Ghazipur told NewsClick: “Education should not be painted in two colours – Hindu and Muslim. For a teacher, students coming to a madrasa, missionary or any other school are only students. We don’t view children through the lens of religion. Though it is an Arabic word, which means an educational institution, we no longer work on the old traditional patterns of teaching. Every subject including Maths, Science, English etc apart from Urdu, Arabic and the Quran is taught. We also teach Sanskrit to non-Hindu students,”

Khan who teaches at Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Madrasa in Ghazipur where nearly 25-to 30% of students are non-Muslims in every class, believes that the madrasas are being targeted for political mileage ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.  

“I have studied in a minority school and when I was in class 6, I was asked to write an essay on Bhishma Pitamah and had written it so well that my teacher was surprised, Therefore, we should not differentiate between students on religious grounds,” he said.

Doubting PM Modi’s madrasa modernisation plan, Khan alleged: “Madrasa teachers in the state have not been paid their salary for the last three-four years. The government claims they want to modernise madrasas which lack basic facilities, including teacher’s training, but they have a very low budget. During the Congress regime, the budget for madrasas was around Rs 200 crore when teachers used to be few, now the budget has come down to Rs 10 crore. Neither the teachers’ salary can be given in Rs 10 crore nor the previous dues can be cleared, leave alone modernisation. The government is giving slow poison to madrasa teachers. When the budget is low, then the payment will not be received and when the payment is not received then the teacher will not teach on an empty stomach. The government is waiting for everything to end slowly so that they don’t have to take the onus.” 

Notably, the UP government’s recent directive to all the district magistrates to begin a survey to identify “unrecognised madrasas” has also kicked up a political storm as many minority organisations see it as an attempt to target the community.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Lucknow: Amid slogans of liberty, freedom and rights, hundreds of tribal people assembled and carried out a rally at dense forest areas of Dhekwah village in Rajapur gram panchayat of Marihan tehsil under Mirzapur district on Monday, demanding implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and the withdraw all cases registered against them.

The protesters, who marched to the ‘stone rocks’ on the banks of Jharinagari Nala, also sought 200 days minimum work for labourers in a year on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) job card and Rs 600 wage/day.

Despite the icy winds keeping the chill alive, which brought down the temperatures, people from at least seven villages of Marihan tehsil participated in the protest. The protest is being held under the banner of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has been working to implement FRA in the region for nearly six years.

FRA is a law that was brought in by the parliament in 2006 recognising that in several states across the country, there are people dependent on forest land for their livelihoods and that the forest conservation related legislations and the lack of proper forest and revenue settlement process had worked to deprive people of their rights on forest land. FRA grants land rights to those tribals and forest dwellers who have been tilling the land for years.

“On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, around 300 tribals — both men and women — assembled under CPI(M) banner to raise the long pending demands. The land of the forest is under the control of the feudalistic land mafia and so-called religious babas. Such mafias were grabbing tribal lands by faking documents and winning the support of the police and the government. We want a proper implementation of FRA by the Forest department,” Rajnath Yadav, district president of CPI(M), led the protest, told NewsClick, adding that illegal occupation should be removed from the fertile land and it should be distributed among the landless adivasis (aboriginals).

Accusing the local police of allegedly engaging in multiple illegal methods of keeping adivasis away from forest lands, Yadav added, “Forest officials are preventing them from tilling their lands. When they object to these acts and stake their claim, they are threatened with false cases and arrests. However, religious baba Jai Gurudev occupied nearly 650 bigha land illegally, and nothing has happened despite notice served to him four months back.”

He further says, “Former Marihan MLA Lalitesh Pati Tripathi also occupied 6,500 bigha land near Kalwari, which belongs to tribals of the region. He was also served notice. Another baba, Swami Agra Nand Maharaj, is in the news for grabbing land in Sakteshgarh. The intimidation, eviction notices, and fake cases are only meant for poor adivasis but not applicable on these land mafias.”

The CPI(M) leader alleged that tribal people in Dhekwah, Darhiram, Rajapur, Marihan, Atari, Pateri, and Patehara villages are preventing them from farming by planting thorny plants so that they can not grow crops for their survival.

“The tribals have been denied their rights under MNREGA and FSA in tribal regions for years. We have been demanding rights for several years but to no avail,” says Yadav, who has been actively advocating for implementing FRA in the State.

Meanwhile, workers engaged at the sites of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have demanded an increase in work days from the present 100 to 200/household and a revision in the daily wages to Rs 600.

Dinkar Kapoor, state general secretary of All India Peoples’ Front, who is also a petitioner in FRA speaking with NewsClick, said, “93,430 land title claims were filed under FRA, and 74,538 was rejected by then Bahujan Samajwadi Party-led Mayawati government in 2011. We then approached Allahabad High Court in 2013 under the banner of Adivasi Vanvasi Mahasabha, and the court ordered a review, but the previous Akhilesh government did not do it. In 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, and instead of reviewing, the Yogi Adityanath government started serving eviction notices to vacate forestland immediately. The eviction notices were not only issued in Mirzapur but also served in Sonbhadra, Chandauli, and Bundelkhand to harass tribals.”

Kapoor, based in Sonbhadra, working for the rights of tribals, added, “In 2017, we filed PIL in Allahabad High Court, and the court stayed eviction and ordered for review in 18 weeks on October 11, 2018. The review process began, but COVID-19 stopped everything. It resumed again post-pandemic, but the harassment continued,” he alleged.

On November 15, 2022, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Sonbhadra and promised to give the land title to the adivasis, but nothing seemed to be working on the ground.

All India Peoples’ Front will launch Bhoomi Adhikar Abhiyan, where they will campaign door-to-door in Sonbhadra, Mirzapur region, to implement FRA.

Around 45,000 adivasis of at least 52 villages spread over 22 panchayats in the Rajhaua forest at Manikpur block of Bundelkhand’s Chitrakoot district were served with eviction notices because their villages are located in Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary (a sub-division of the Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary in Bihar), which came into existence in 1980. NewsClick has reported from the ground during the 2022 Assembly elections.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Lucknow: There has been an over 7.9% increase in the proportion of school-going children taking paid tuition classes in Uttar Pradesh in 2022, in comparison to pre-Covid-19 levels, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 launched on Wednesday.

According to the ASER, the overall enrollment to private tuition across the state has increased at all levels despite the prolonged
closure of schools. The nationwide survey was resumed after a gap of four years. However, the percentage of children in classes 1 to 8 in Uttar Pradesh taking paid private tuition increased from 15.9% in 2018 to 23.7% in 2022. Nationally, the figure stood at 30.5%.

In UP, the survey was conducted in 2,096 villages across 70 districts and included 91,158 children in the age group of 3-16 from 41,910 households.

While the enrollment of girls in schools improved in 2022, the considerable drop in their percentage at a higher secondary level remained worrisome, according to the survey.

Against the country-wide average of 2%, the percentage of girls in the age group of 11-14 years not enrolled in schools in Uttar Pradesh stood at 4%. However, this number has significantly reduced over time. It was 11.1% in 2006 and 7.4% in 2018, the findings suggested.

On the other hand, following Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh has the second highest number of girls in the 15-16 age group not enrolled in schools. Only three states—MP (17%), UP (15%), and Chhattisgarh (11.2%)—have more than 10% of girls in this age group who are out of school, even when the national average stood at 7.9%.

Sunil Kumar, state coordinator of ASER, told NewsClick that things have changed in the last few decades, but a lot still needs to be done in terms of the percentage of women’s literacy and higher education.

Under the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FNL) mission of the NIPUN Bharat programme launched by the Union education ministry in 2020, the goal is to cover 100% of children from class 3 by 2025. “Going by the findings of ten years, it seems an uphill task to complete the target in three years. UP still needs a big push in the coming two years,” Kumar said.

Discussing dropout rates, Kumar further said, “Uttar Pradesh has the highest dropout rates in the country in terms of girls. The overall
percentage of dropout rate is 4% in the age group of 11-14 while it increased to 15% girls in the 15-16 age group. As the age increases, the dropout rate of girls also increases. This is worrisome because it happened even after running the School Chalo Abhiyan campaign aggressively.”

Speaking to NewsClick, Naresh Paras, an Agra-based child rights activist, said he believes there are two reasons behind the dropouts of girls. “First, poverty forces teenage girls to work along with families to make ends meet. The other reason is gender gap; parents don’t allow their daughters to attend a school where the boys’ strength is stronger than girls. Further, in rural areas, girls are
levied with the responsibility to take care of her younger siblings.”

Meanwhile, to ensure 100% enrolment in primary and upper primary schools in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’ from Shravasti district in April 2022.

“Take every child to school, register them, provide them with facilities like free uniforms, books, bags, shoes, socks and sweaters,
etc.,” Adityanath said at the inauguration event. However, there are lakhs of poor students of government primary schools in UP who lack school uniforms, shoes and bags.

Talking about the possibilities of the trend to opt for private tution, the UP coordinator of ASER further said, “The parents do not want to compromise on the quality of education. A number of private schools have been closed during Covid-19. Therefore, either any member of the family is supporting the children or sending them to private tuition for a better education.”

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Lucknow: About 1,559 non-teaching staff of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), who had called off their strike last month after Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor assured them that their contracts would be renewed and they would soon receive extension letters, have decided to renew their protest from January 16.  

The staff had gone on strike on December 30 over non-payment of salaries for the last month and permanent appointment at the varsity. Most of the protesters are temporary workers employed on a daily wage basis.

“We called off the protest after the VC promised to meet our demands in a day or two, including our extension letters along with salary for December, but this has not been fulfilled after more than 10 days. No one wants to protest against the university, but we have been forced to do so as it is a matter of our livelihood. The administration’s failure to release our salaries for December has forced us to do this,” Faisal Rayees, president of the Technical Staff Association, told NewsClick. 

“Due to non-receipt of salaries on time, many of us have been unable to pay for our daily expenses and are under constant stress. Some of us have sought loans from banks and are being penalised for late payments,” an employee told NewsClick.

Explaining the process of extension period from where the panic among employees started, the union president further said: “Before 2015, there was an extension every five months but the former vice-chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah changed it to one year and since then the same process is being followed. The extension of 1,559 staff was renewed on December 31, 2021 till December 2022, but it was not renewed by the current VC Tariq Mansoor,” he said, adding that a large section of staff had been working on temporary basis for more than a decade but due to administrative failure, they were under acute mental stress as they had not been regularised. 

“If someone is retiring, then the department concerned gives an advertisement, but unfortunately there is no selection committee for non-teaching staff. Even the government asked the university administration to make a schedule for non-teaching but this has never been done,” Rayees said. 

The union leaders said they had been raising the demand for job regularisation for a long time now but the state government just made hollow promises.

There are four categories under non-teaching staff — ministerial, secretarial, multi-tasking staff and technical staff. 

“Lower division clerk, registrar, finance officer, controller and even vice chancellor comes under the ministerial category of non-teaching staff while the entry point in secretarial includes stenographer, personal assistant, senior personal assistant and personal secretary. The 4th grade employees including gardener technical staff, driver, sanitation worker etc. are known as multi-tasking staff after the recommendation of 6th Pay Commission,” the union said. 

NewsClick also spoke with Shamim Akhtar, associate professor at Centre of Continuing and Adult Education and Extension and general secretary of AMU Employees Union, to understand the ongoing chaos. He said: “Is this justice that you take work for 30 days and when it comes to pay, the university administration turns a deaf ear? Furthermore, the tenure of non-teaching staff ends on December 31 every year, they get extension letters on January 1 automatically. Though it was assured that salary would be disbursed in a day or two, nothing has been done.”

Talking about ‘laxity’ of university administration in terms of regularisation of non-teaching staff, Akhtar said: “Even the Supreme Court order is to regularise contractual employees after three years of service and performance. They should at least be given a chance but nothing seems working on the ground. In 2020, a sanitation worker who was deputed at MM Hall died after 27 years of service but was not regularised. Hence, he was not eligible for any compensation, gratuity and pension. Another pump attendant Rajab Ali retired two months ago. He, too, is also not eligible for any perks and benefits.”

The union leaders also claimed that they keep writing to the university registrar who is accountable but they never ever get any reply from him about the reason behind the process. “It is not the creation of the current vice-chancellor that 1,559 posts of non-teaching staff are not regularised. This has happened for decades. The previous vice-chancellors should be held accountable for this, as it took 25-27 years to make a decision whether he/she should deserve permanent status or not,” Akhtar said. 

A union leader on the condition of anonymity told NewsClick: “The root cause of all the problems is favouritism in every department. Anybody who is close to the head of department, he/she gets permanent status. The selection committee for non-teaching staff has never met, no matter if one dies or serves for more than a decade. People are fearful to speak against government policies, and the administration.”  

Mohammad Wasim, the university proctor, claimed it was “due to lack of funds” that salary had not been disbursed to the employees. “The vice-chancellor and university administration are in touch with UGC (University Grants Commission) as the funds have not been released by the government. Salaries will be given as soon as the fund arrives,” he said. 

NewsClick also tried to contact AMU registrar Mohd Imran but in vain.

Courtesy: newsclick.in

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Lucknow: Amid the row over discovery of a “Shivling” inside the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, a civil court in Mathura has ordered a survey of the Shahi Idgah Masjid and sought a report on the same by January 20, in one of the petitions related to the Shahi Idgah mosque-Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple dispute.

Civil Judge (Senior Division) Sonika Verma passed the order earlier this week on a civil suit filed by Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta and vice president Surjit Yadav. The suit was filed on December 8 this year, and sought possession of the site at which the mosque stands and the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque.

The Mathura court has now directed the Court Amin (a term used to refer to a revenue department official) to visit the disputed premises and conduct a survey of the area. The court officers have been asked to submit a report with site plans and maps before the court by January 20, 2023 when the petition will be taken up next.

The Hindu Sena chief’s suit claimed that the mosque was allegedly built on the site where Lord Krishna was purportedly born and sought that the agreement between the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sangh and the Shahi Idgah Masjid Committee in 1968 be cancelled, calling it illegal.

The argument presented is that the temple trust did not have the power to act against the interest of the people belonging to the faith and against the interest of the deity.

This is one of over a dozen petitions pending in the civil courts of Mathura with regards to the Shahi Idgah-Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi dispute.

The order comes in the backdrop of Varanasi courts deciding on more than occasion that the Hindu plaintiffs’ suit in the Gyanvapi dispute was maintainable.

Both the Gyanvapi mosque and the Shahi Idgah Mosque, fall under the purview of The Places of Worship Act, 1991, but now they are under litigation.

‘Blatant Violation’ of Act

Social activists, academicians and Left leaders NewsClick spoke with claimed that this was totally against the Places of Worship (special provisions Act) 1991.

Roop Rekha Verma, former Lucknow University vice-chancellor, who has been fighting for inequalities of caste, gender and religion on the streets, told NewsClick: “Persons like me, who wish to cherish a composite culture, plurality, peace and love in India are deeply disturbed by court rulings allowing surveys of the premises of mosques and temples in Varanasi and Mathura despite there being a law, the Places of Worship Act, enacted in 1991. This law debars raising controversies over a mosque or temple existing before 1947. The courts have disappointed us by interpreting the law in a very literal sense, damaging its real spirit. This opens up the pandora box of controversies which is dangerous to peace and progress of the country.”

The Mathura dispute involves ownership of 13.37 acres, which the petitioners claim belongs to Lord Shri Krishna Virajman and also challenged the validity of a 1968 compromise agreement between Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and the Trust Masjid Idgah. 

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former MP, Subhashini Ali, believes the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “fuelling” communal issues such as the row over the Gyanvapi- Shahi Idgah mosque with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 

“After Babri, these days, it looks like the BJP has taken up the agenda of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque and now Shahi Idgah mosque… the reason they do not have anything to show ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls except the mandir-masjid issue. They have confidence that the way they used Ram Janmabhoomi as fodder to come to power, they can retain the same in upcoming elections,” she told NewsClick.

Meanwhile, the counsel for Shahi Masjid Idgah said they would file their objection on January 20 to the district court order on the submission of a survey report of Idgah. He alleged that the petitioners had “misled” the court and attained the order without proving the need and urgency for survey to be undertaken.

“The decision has been taken without issuing notice to us, which will not be accepted at all. We have not been served any summons in the case, thus we have not even appeared in the case and came to know about such an order for a survey of the mosque premises from other sources other than the court procedure,” Ahmed told NewsClick. “The courts have closed for the winter vacation. On opening of the court in the first week of January, we will file our objections against any survey as ordered by court,” he added.

The suit is one of the many pleas demanding the removal of the 17th century Shahi Idgah Masjid from the Katra Keshav Dev temple complex. The “compromise” between Sri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and Shahi Masjid Idgah made in 1968 was also challenged in the suit, according to lawyers.

Ramon Magsaysay award recipient and social activist Sandeep Pandey told NewsClick: “It is interesting that people associated with Hindutva ideology who are against redressal of caste discrimination by opposing caste-based reservation want the historical religious wrong undone by looking for signs of a temple in mosque after mosque. It is unfortunate that instead of addressing basic problems faced by common people like illiteracy, poverty, malnourishment, unemployment, inflation, a section of the population supported by the ruling Hindutva ideology wants to dig into unnecessary religious controversies with the objective of communal mobilisation. These regressive forces are taking the country backward and are doing long term harm to the progress of society.”

Some legal experts also believe that the district court’s judgement was not correct.

“When there is a law saying certain things have to be put to an end, its objectives have to be considered,” argued Lucknow-based advocate on record Maruf Hashmi.

“There has been uninterrupted offering of namaz in the Shahi Idgah premises. Anything done contrary to uninterrupted mosque activities amounts to changing the nature of the place of worship,” he told NewsClick.

MATHURA ‘TENSE’

Meanwhile, the communally sensitive Mathura city remains tense days after the Mathura court ordered a Gyanvapi Masjid-like survey of Shahi Idgah mosque. Following the announcement, security has been stepped up. Both Hindu and Muslim communities, especially business and secular minded people, said that the atmosphere of the country should not be spoiled over a temple or a mosque.

Mathura-based political observer Pervez Ahmad told NewsClick, “People from both the communities are upset with the order. They think it will not only be loss-making business for the city after security forces land in the city but also destroy the social fabric of the country further. Locals said that the ruling government is unnecessary digging up this issue to gain political mileage ahead of upcoming elections.”

Several citizens of Mathura have said they are united and have called for keeping calm and protecting the original bonhomie of the city.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Prayagraj: Security personnel stand guard during a protest by Allahabad University students that erupted after a students’ leader allegedly stopped from entering the campus on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (PTI Photo)

Lucknow: Several students were injured in Allahabad University after violence broke out on the campus late Monday evening. This followed a tense day between two groups – student leaders and security guards – with the former alleging an attempt to stop a former student leader entering the campus and manhandling him and the latter alleging that the said leader slapped the guard for stopping him.

Visuals emerged on social media from the campus showing a student with a bloodied forehead, another with injuries on his back, and a third with a bleeding palm. Two cars were damaged and motorcycles were torched in violence, said reports.

Police intervened to manage the intensified scuffle between the guards and students. But, as per some eyewitnesses, security guards opened fire as the clash intensified, which injured around six students and some policemen.

“It was around 2:30 pm. Vivekanand Pathak, a former student leader of Allahabad University, along with his wife, came to the SBI bank branch inside the campus. However, a security guard stopped his car and refused to let him enter. Pathak called up a bank employee and told the guard to speak to him. If “you do not believe me talk to him, he is a bank employee”, he said. At this, the guard threw the mobile away and started abusing Pathak. When the argument escalated, the guard attacked Pathak with the butt of his gun,” Ajay Yadav Samrat, a student leader and eyewitness told NewsClick.

He added: “Seeing this, some students nearby came and rescued Pathak. Later, the guards went to the proctor’s office and nearly after an hour, they came with an iron rod, pistol, hockey stick, etc. They were around 250 in number and not a single guard was empty handed; they came with the intention to kill the students. There must have been about 5-6 rounds of firing,” alleged Samrat, who has been part of the protest in the campus for the past one year against fee hike and restoration of the students’ union.

“The question is, where did the security guards get the weapon and rod from? If they are not arrested within 24 hours, we will intensify our protest. Action against administration should also be taken, at whose behest the guards attacked,” alleged Samrat.

Pathak, the ex-student leader, has also been part of a prolonged protest at the campus over fee hike that has been going on for the past 882 days led by Samrat. The students allege that the fees for undergraduate courses, which was Rs 975 a year, has been hiked over 300% to Rs 4,151.

Harendra Yadav, a native of Ghazipur, who is pursuing Masters from Allahabad University and was injured during the violence, told NewsClick: “The proctorial team intervened to pacify the situation between the security guards and student leaders. Things were sorted out. We asked Pathak to bring sweets to distribute to those who were present on the ground. Later, the same guards who were waiting for sweets, came with iron rods, pistols and hockey stick and started beating us black and blue. I nearly escaped being lynched.”

An FIR, accessed by NewsClick, has been registered against six students including Harendra Yadav, Vivekanand Pathak, Ajay Yadav Samrat, Abhishek Yadav, Rahul Patel, Navneet Singh, Satyam Kushwaha in a case under Section 147, 323, 336, 427, 435, 504, 392 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“We were beaten by the security guards mercilessly and have also booked by the administration. It was a riot-like situation,” said Sumit Singh, an eyewitness who lives on the campus and said his wife was chased by the mob. She escaped unhurt.

Meanwhile, an official statement from Allahabad University said it will remain shut on Tuesday in wake of the violence as “unknown elements” broke open the locks of the university gates that resulted in the clash between them and guards.

“In view of the unfortunate incidents of violence and serious misconduct that has taken place today, wherein unknown elements broke open the locks of the University gates which resulted in violence between them and the Guards. Stone pelting and torching of vehicles have led to a panic-stricken situation, work in University shall remain suspended tomorrow i.e. 20 of December 2022. This is issued with the approval of Hon’ble Vice Chancellor,” the official statement issued by Allahabad University stated.

Meanwhile, a general house meeting was organised where senior students and ex-student leaders were present to decide the future course of action.

Commenting over the incident, Richa Singh, a former student and the first woman president of the Allahabad University Students’ Union, who was present in the meeting, told NewsClick: “It was the first time in the history of Allahabad University that students were beaten with rods, that too in front of the police. This was a pre-planned strategy to discredit the ongoing protest which has been going on for more than a year in democratic and Gandhian way. It is shameful that instead of dialogue and communication with students, the administration chose violence,” she said, adding that university is a place of discussion not a violence, but the administration was leaving no stone unturned to turn this place into a battleground.

“The university administration should take moral responsibility for the violence and should take strict action against those involved in firing at the students. If the culprits are not booked, the university will witness massive protests from tomorrow,” she added.

The former students’ union president said that for the past two years, dozens of cases have been registered against students in different cases. “By doing so, the administration was trying to make students into goonda (criminals), which they will not let happen,” Singh added.

NewsClick attempted to contact the university spokesperson and proctor via calls and messages, but failed to receive a response.

However, an official deputed on the campus told NewsClick: “The situation is now under control. There are minor injuries. A few of them have been taken to hospital and are recuperating well. We have stepped up deployment at the campus.” The official added that students from both sides were injured in the clash, including the ones who had tried to stop the violence.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Lucknow: Midday meal workers in Uttar Pradesh (UP), who earn Rs 2,000 per month, say they have not been paid their meagre wages for the last six months. Even though various organisations, including the Midday Federation of India, have repeatedly written to the State government requesting them to release their wages, it has not yielded any results. Teachers have taken the matter into their own hands and started paying them from their own pockets.

Over 3,77,520 cooks, engaged in preparing food under the mid-day meal scheme (Mid Day Meal Authority, Uttar Pradesh) in around 2.85 lakh state government-run primary schools are awaiting a monthly honorarium of Rs 2,000 for the last six months.

Veena Gupta, secretary of the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH) told NewsClick, “Cooks in Uttar Pradesh have not been paid since March. The last payment they received was Rs 1,500 per month. Later, the honorarium was increased by Rs 500. But so far, most of the cooks in the state have not received the revised payment. Teachers are somehow persuading them to continue with their services by shelling out money from their own pockets.”

Laxmi, an old widow, and a cook at a primary school in the Basti district told NewsClick,

“I am a single parent and I have an unmarried daughter and an unemployed son to look after. For the last six months, I have not received any payment. I have decided to stop working in the school and find a maid’s job.” 

Last year in December, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to increase the honorarium of part-time instructors and cooks posted in the state’s Basic Education Department. However, the government approved the proposal in May, almost five months later. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

“Rasoiya does not get paid for May and June due to the closure of school during summer vacation; June and July passed in waiting. When they stopped coming to school to cook the meal, we intervened and gave some amount from our own pocket. After a long wait, the government issued a grant for one month. Rs 1.30 crore grant has been received for

6,500 cooks posted in 2,482 schools of Bareilly, while the need is Rs 3.90 crore,” Mukesh Singh Chauhan, district president of Prathamik Shikshak Sangh told NewsClick.

Of the 3.77 lakh cook-cum-helpers, 90% are women, mostly single women and widows who have been solely dependent on their monthly honorarium.

“For almost 68 students, I am the lone cook in my school. Whenever I ask the school principal, he says the grant has not been released by the government. I have a family of four who are dependent on my salary. The situation we have been going through only we can understand. I am sincerely looking for a job where I can be paid on time at least,” Renu, a cook in Ballia, told NewsClick, adding that even domestic helpers and cooks get around Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000

salary or even more. The government must think about their meagre salaries and that too on time.

Hundreds of Midday meal workers and helpers took to the streets and staged sit-in protests at different district headquarters of Uttar Pradesh in December as a part of the nationwide protests under the banner of the Midday Federation of India.

They submitted a memorandum, demanding an increase in the honorarium of the workers from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 15,000 per month, an increase in the retirement age of cooks and helpers from 60 years to 65 years and providing retirement benefits.

“For the past few years, teachers, and principals have been pooling funds from their pocket. Now, even they are helpless in contributing funds,” Sanjeev Pandey, a school principal in Gorakhpur, told NewsClick.

NewsClick has reported earlier that government schools in Uttar Pradesh have reportedly not received any money for mid-day meals for the last few months, preventing some schools from serving food to children under the scheme. In a few schools, teachers and gram pradhan (village head) have been spending from their own pockets or buying rations on credit to feed the children. The Education Department has attributed the delay in payment to the non-release of funds by the Finance Department.

Meanwhile, the Federation is gearing up for another fresh protest in Lucknow next week where cooks from across the state will gather to raise their demands.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Lucknow: As the temperature takes a sharp dip, students of state government-run primary schools remain without sweaters, shoes, and socks. The majority of these children in the state belong to poor families and wear simple shirts and slippers to school.

According to the Education Department records, there are 1 crore 91 lakh students enrolled in 1,35,000 primary schools (class I to VIII) in Uttar Pradesh. Out of these, parents of only 90,000 students have received funds to purchase uniforms and school bags.

The state government had earlier this year declared that Rs 1,100 will be used to credit the bank accounts of students’ parents to purchase uniforms. These included shirts, trousers (two sets), sweaters, shoes, socks, and a school bag. Lakhs of students across the state are still waiting for this transfer.

“The temperature has fallen below 20 degrees Celsius. Students coming to school in the morning can be seen shivering. The majority of them come wearing just a shirt, trousers, and slippers. Parents of most of these children are daily wage labourers. Authorities must ensure that the amount is provided to them without any further delay,” Virendra Mishra, national spokesperson of Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (RSM), a national-level outfit of primary school teachers, told NewsClick.

When asked the reason behind the delay, Mishra said that Aadhaar enrolment is compulsory for UP school admission in classes I to VIII – age six to 14 years – to access benefits under the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009, which now come as direct benefit transfers (DBTs) from the state. This money amounting to Rs 1,100 is meant to cover the cost of school supplies such as uniforms and textbooks.

“Aadhaar cards of lakhs of children in the state are either not made or are under process. Therefore, they are not eligible for Rs 1,100 under DBT. However, this is in violation of the Supreme Court’s September 2018 ruling, which says Aadhaar is not compulsory for school admissions. The SC had said no child could be denied benefits of any scheme for not having an Aadhaar number,” the RSM spokesperson further added.

The union alleged that the top authorities had instructed the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) to set up camps at the village level so that students can get an Aadhaar card. But nothing seems to be working on the ground. “Those children completed all the formalities for the Aadhaar card on their own; yet, they did not receive the amount. The compulsory Aadhaar enrolment to get money for uniforms adds an extra hurdle for students and their parents.”

Another teacher from the Deoria district told NewsClick, “Teachers are getting threats that salary will be withheld if we fail to complete the formalities of getting Aadhaar cards for children. How are we responsible if a student does not receive the amount for a dress? We can only encourage students and their parents but can not hold them accountable,” he said on the condition of anonymity.

Earlier, uniforms, shoes, socks, sweaters and school bags were provided to the students through their schools for free. To carry forward the scheme, the Yogi government decided last year that parents of students will be given a total amount through direct benefit transfer (DBT).

In Agra district, more than 2.5 lakh children are enrolled in 2,491 schools. Out of these, more than one lakh could not get sweaters, socks, shoes and other uniforms even after half the academic year has passed. “Children are reaching school without wearing sweaters and shoes and socks. Rs 1,100 have been sent by the government to the accounts of parents to purchase school uniforms. However, the funds have not yet reached the accounts of the parents of 59,000 students here. The parents of the children who have received the money say that the expenditure on school dress and shoes and socks is coming up to Rs 1,500 to 1,800,” Prabhakar Tiwari, a school teacher in Agra told NewsClick.

Rajeev Verma, general secretary of the United Teachers Association (UTA) said that most of the parents of students have not received the money so that they can buy winter uniforms. Therefore, it is a common sight in school that children are coming barefoot and without sweaters.

Meanwhile, Agra BSA Praveen Kumar Tiwari said that in order to avoid any kind of inconvenience to the children, the DBT has been processed. Those who have not received it must not have linked their accounts, he claimed.

NewsClick spoke to nearly dozens of parents in many districts including Deoria, Ballia, Gorakhpur, Bahraich, and Barabanki, among others. They all claimed they have not received money for two years. Those who have received it, claimed that Rs 1,100 were not sufficient to buy everything.

“It was better when the school administration was accountable to buy uniforms. We used to get dresses sooner or later. But since the government changed the scheme and started sending money to the account, we have been running from pillar to post to get that money,” Rashmi, a daily wager whose three children are enrolled in a primary school in Deoria, told NewsClick, adding that none of her kids has sweaters, shoes and socks. 

A similar situation prevails in other districts of UP as well where students have not been provided new books and uniforms.

“The attitude of the government towards education is nothing but only full of hollow rhetoric. They don’t want poor kids to study. We are daily wage labourers and can not afford to spend Rs 1,500 to buy uniforms and stationery. We earn only enough to cover the expenses of the house. If the government is not serious, what can our children do but become daily wagers like their parents?” Ramesh, whose three daughters are enrolled in a primary school in Ballia district, questioned.

Under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, the government has made a provision of 166 crore for the stationery of children in the state budget 2022-23. Apart from this, the government has made a provision of about Rs 2,200 crore for uniforms, shoes/stockings, and sweaters for the students.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had launched the School Chalo Abhiyan last year in the Shravasti district to ensure 100% enrolment at primary and upper primary schools in the state. However, amid the abysmal conditions and poor management by the government, the dropout rates of students at the primary level are increasing, the teachers’ union told NewsClick.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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