Teachers allegedly ordered to serve food to VVIPs at Gujarat temple fair, circular withdrawn after outrage
Under fire, the controversial order was swiftly scrapped, but not before exposing the deep cracks in Gujarat's education priorities.
In a decision that stunned Gujarat's education community, 48 schoolteachers from Jasdan taluka were allegedly ordered to serve food to VVIPs during the upcoming Shravan month festival at the Ghela Somnath temple in Rajkot district. The order, issued by the Deputy Collector of Jasdan, quickly triggered political and public uproar and was ultimately revoked.
The circular, directed at primary teachers from over 10 local schools, assigned them to manage food arrangements during the religious fair. This controversial duty raised a flurry of questions, especially as Gujarat is already battling an alarming shortage of 12,500 teachers and 700 principals across the state.
Teachers, already burdened with roles beyond classrooms such as handling census duties, election work, and even bizarre tasks like chasing locusts or counting toilets, were now allegedly being pushed into hospitality roles. The move drew sharp criticism from educators and politicians alike, who warned that such diversions were corroding the state's education system.
Following the backlash, Jasdan's provincial officer withdrew the circular, stating that teachers may still choose to volunteer at the temple fair but not under compulsion.
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He said, "How can there be nine voters in a small room and nine thousand voters in a single hostel in Maharashtra? "Then you should understand this: Is this Election Commission or Modi ji's puppet?" The Congress has also been questioning the turnout figures in the Maharashtra Assembly election last year which was won by the BJP-led alliance. The Election Commission has dismissed allegations of irregularities as "unfounded". The BJP has alleged that the Congress is attacking constitutional bodies as it is unable to accept its successive defeats. At the conference, Kharge also alleged that discrimination against minorities and Dalits has become a common practice in BJP-ruled states. The Congress chief also accused Prime Minister Modi of trying to polarise society with his statements during the elections. "He always talks about chicken, Mughals, Mangal-sutra in elections and he always talks about dividing the society. The people of the country chose him and elected him to protect the Constitution, but he is working to crush it. "If anyone is crushing the Constitution, it is the prime minister and the BJP," he alleged. Taking on the PM, Kharge said Prime Minister Modi sits in his office after coming to Parliament and does not attend the House. "He watches the proceedings of Parliament on TV there. If you just want to watch the proceedings, come to the House and see it face-to-face. I don't understand what he is afraid of," Kharge said. Noting that a battle of ideologies is going on in the country, he said while the Congress is protecting the Constitution, the BJP is attacking it. "The soul of India is enshrined in the Constitution. It is the strength of every citizen, their right to move forward and live with dignity. We will protect the Constitution at all costs," he stressed. Claiming that the Opposition's voice was being stifled in Parliament, Kharge said former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar was used by the government to do that in the Rajya Sabha. He claimed that Dhankhar would suspend opposition MPs and not allow them to speak, but when he started asserting that he was independent, he was "threatened and pressured". He claimed that when Dhankhar allowed a notice for the opposition's motion to remove Justice Yashwant Varma, he was "threatened and pressured" by the government. The Congress president also claimed that people from the BJP said the words 'Socialist and Secular' should be removed from the Preamble of the Constitution, but the BJP has kept the words 'Socialist' and 'Secular' in the party constitution. "People from BJP-RSS cannot remove the words Socialist and Secular, because they do not have the power that the people of this country have," he said. Kharge said the responsibility of protecting democracy lies with the judiciary, the election commission and the media. But a judge used derogatory words for people of a particular religion and no action was taken against him and the government removed the Chief Justice of India from the process of appointing the Chief Election Commissioner, he said. "In such a situation, this is not democracy, but dictatorship," Kharge alleged.
