In an unpleasant surprise for Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, teachers at a state-level award ceremony in Jaipur on Tuesday responded with a firm "yes" to a question about the prevalence of bribery in transfers pertaining to the education department.
The Chief Minister, apparently taken aback by the answer, talked about the need for a transparent transfer policy for teachers where they clearly know about the duration of their tenures.
"We hear sometimes money has to be paid for transfers. I don`t know if it is true...is money paid?" he asked. "Yes," the teachers said collectively as they cheered the question being put to them.
The Chief Minister expressed his surprise at the answer and said, “Paise dene padte hai kya? Kamaal hai!” "It is surprising... It is very painful that teachers are eager to get transfers done by paying money. I feel a policy should be made and you should get to know if the tenure is for one, two, three years...Money will not change hands and you will not have to go to the MLA (with requests)," he said.
The Chief Minister also said that teachers should ensure quality education in schools. "Your duty is that there should be no slackness in your role. Leave the rest to us. Your duty is that education in schools is proper," he said.
Gehlot urged teachers to inculcate the right values among children. He said teachers had talked of transfer policy and that is a "serious issue".
"Give a suggestion on this to the minister. Transfer policy should be such that there is no heartburn," the Chief Minister said.
He said people approached elected representatives for transfers who in turn put pressure on the minister. Rajasthan Minister for School Education Govind Singh Dotasra later said any minor malpractice should be reported to him and that the Chief Minister wanted to indicate that people should not be forced to pay money.
"This will be totally ended with the implementation of a policy for the transfer of teachers under my and Chief Minister`s leadership," he said.
