Mahabubnagar DEO under scanner of Dalit Teachers

Telangana |  Suryaa Desk  | Published : Mon, Feb 19, 2018, 11:23 AM

Mahabubnagar: Dissent among Dalit Bahujan teachers in Mahabubnagar district which started two months ago after a Dalit teacher Raghunandan committed suicide, is snowballing into a revolt against Somi Reddy, DEO of Mahabubnagar.

Teachers from the Dalit community said the DEO was harassing them on the basis of caste besides levelling allegations of corruption against Reddy.

Recently, Ananthappa, gazetted head master and in-charge MEO of Nawabpet was suspended by the DEO on charges of issuing earned leaves to his staff without informing the higher authorities. The DEO had framed the charges after checking certain entries in the service book.

Ananthappa, who belongs to Dalit community, told Telangana Today, that he was being targeted by Reddy only because he had discussed the allegations of corruption levelled by then Hyderabad District Collector Rahul Bojja against the DEO in his report. He said that according to GO 40, he had complete authority to give ELs to his staff without interference from the DEOs office and had broken no guidelines.

In another case, Venkatamma, gazetted headmistress of ZPHS Kotakadram in Mahabubnagar mandal said the DEO had caused her emotional stress and had hurt her self-esteem by using objectionable language against her in his chambers when she had delayed making a change in the service book to change the year of promotion of one of the teachers from 2002 to 2001, which would have made the teacher (a relative of the DEO) avail financial benefits and quick promotions in future.

As this was against the rules, she had told the DEO that she would have to study the matter before taking a decision. This, she said, had enraged the DEO, who verbally abused her and asked her husband (a lecturer in a government college) to get out of his office. She was also issued a memo for not following his orders, for which she sought evidence of wrongdoing. She hasn’t received any reply since then.

“Somi Reddy also collected Rs 1,000 from every school for conducting science fair,” Venkatamma said. The DEO also received kickbacks for cancelling tenders which were initially called for by former Mahabubnagar Collector Sridevi for the purchase of equipment for smart classrooms, Anathappa said and adding that the DEO purchased substandard equipment after showing inflated cost.

In another incident, a female school assistant, who complained about sexual harassment against the headmaster in Marikal mandal was suspended instead of any action being being taken against the headmaster. When she went to court and got favourable orders, she was reinstated in Narva mandal which is far away from her house. She has a differently-abled child.

On Sunday, teachers, headmasters and MEOs gathered in Mahabubnagar town and resolved to fight till action was initiated against the DEO. The teachers said they would start a legal and people’s movement to send him out of Mahabubnagar.

Dalit and BC teachers, who participated in the meeting took out a rally to Mahabubnagar bus stand and garlanded the statue of Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar. They said the DEO had suspended many teachers since he took charge and reinstated them later after taking a bribe of Rs 30,000. He was also accepting bribes from teachers in remote areas to give them posting in schools closer to Mahabubnagar.

The teachers said Ragunandan, a Dalit teacher, was deputed to three schools in just a short span, after which he allegedly commited suicide.

Speaking at the event, Vinod Kumar, Advocate, said the DEO had committed criminal offences by not only insulting a woman headmistress, but also by illegally trying to put pressure on Venkatamma to change the entries in service book. He said the DEO had committed crime by misleading the Collector to put pressure on teachers and headmasters.

Mantri Narsimhulu from Mala Mahanadu, Suvaarthamma from Madiga Employees Federation, BC Teachers Association and other organisations participated in the protest meet.








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