It seems Pooja (name changed), the girl who was gangraped by her own teachers at the government college for teachers’ training in Patan, will not be given a job by the government despite earlier promises. An official said on Wednesday that Pooja was never promised a job and that she would have to apply like others and compete for employment as a teacher at a government school.
“No promises were made to her about a job,” MN Bhad, director GCERT, told
DNA.
“When she (Pooja) had come to meet us when she was still a student, we had assured her that we will consider her application as a special case after she completes her training.”
Bhad said that, as recruitment of school teachers was not within the purview of the GCERT, they had not received any application from Pooja for a job. “As of now, we have received no application from her,” Bhad said. “When the recruitment of Vidya Sahayaks (teachers) takes place in a month or two, she will have to apply from her district. Then, as we had assured her earlier, we will consider her application as a special case.”
It is, however, difficult to understand how a girl, who was raped repeatedly for months by her own teachers, can compete on equal terms with other, more fortunate girls who did not have to endure such trauma.
It is to Pooja’s credit that despite the trauma of rape she scored 86.8 % in her final PTC exams. But no government department appears willing to help her in getting a job. The Gujarat State Women’s Commission, which had kept silent on the incident even during the trial, is still evasive on the issue.
