142 guest teachers in Delhi face termination for refusal to perform census duty

The district magistrate of Old Delhi has asked the director of education to terminate the services of 142 guest teachers for allegedly refusing to perform their statutory duty as census enumerators, terming the act gross negligence and indiscipline.

The district magistrate of Old Delhi has asked the director of education to terminate the services of 142 guest teachers for allegedly refusing to perform their statutory duty as census enumerators, terming the act ''gross negligence and indiscipline''. In a letter to the director of education dated April 24, the magistrate said, ''The teachers declined to carry out assigned census work despite an earlier communication issued on April 16 highlighting the difficulties caused by their unwillingness to participate in the exercise.'' Commenting on the issue, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood said that census is a matter of national importance which everyone should support. ''We will look into the matter and consider the special cases sympathetically,'' Sood said. The magistrate said the refusal amounted to gross negligence, dereliction of duty and was detrimental to public interest. ''It is being informed that 142 guest teachers have refused to perform the above-mentioned duty. The list is attached for reference,'' the letter said. The magistrate requested that their services be discontinued or terminated with immediate effect, saying that tolerating such acts of indiscipline could affect other staff members currently engaged in census duty. He also said that allowing such non-compliance could disrupt the census process and weaken discipline among the employees performing the same statutory responsibility. However, the teachers claimed that they have not received any termination letter yet. Meanwhile, the Government Teachers Association (GTA) of Delhi has requested Sood to withdraw the proposed termination of the guest teachers. GTA general secretary Ajay Veer wrote to Sood that all the concerned guest teachers are working on annual contracts, which are scheduled to expire on May 8. Veer claimed the refusal to join census duty was not an act of deliberate disobedience but a result of practical difficulties, lack of adequate resources and extremely low remuneration. He said there had been no increase in the daily remuneration of guest teachers for nearly eight years, and the existing amount was insufficient even to meet basic expenses such as commuting. ''The remuneration is not even adequate to meet basic expenses, making the discharge of such duties practically unviable,'' he said. Veer urged the authorities to withdraw the proposed termination and ensure that the annual contracts of the guest teachers are not discontinued during the summer vacation. He also demanded that guest teachers continue to receive regular remuneration without any interruption and be given additional honorarium for census duty, similar to the extra payment provided to regular teachers over and above their salaries for the exercise. ''The guest teachers are already working under precarious and temporary service conditions, and such harsh actions can severely impact their financial stability and morale,'' Veer said. The guest teachers had been assigned the role of census enumerators as part of the government's census operations, which is considered a mandatory public duty.