Govt yet to clarify on teachers’ transfers

JAIPUR: The tricky issue of which department is authorised to handle transfers of primary school teachers could not be resolved even after a meeting between education minister Brij Kishore Sharma and panchayati raj minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya on Monday.
As the primary schools in rural areas were placed under the panchayati raj institutions in October 2010, the panchayats want the transfer powers to be vested with them.The education department too, wants to retain certain powers related to teachers’ transfers.
The teachers’ organisations, however want the state government to introduce a definite transfer policy.
“We discussed all the aspects related to the transfers but have not reached a conclusion. The chief minister will take the final decision but he is not in the city today,” said the education minister said after the meeting. The minister said a decision on the transfers was an administrative matter, therefore, only the chief minister was authorised to take it.
Panchayati raj minister Malviya, however, maintained that certain transfers could be handled by the panchayat bodies only. “Transfers within the same panchayati samiti can be handled by the panchayat’s standing committee. However, for transfers from one panchayat samiti to another, the teacher would be required to get the nod from both the samitis concerned,” Malviya said.
The ambiguity over transfers emerged after the state government devolved powers of five departments to the panchayati raj institutions on October 2, 2010.