Telangana IAS Officer Under Fire For 'Students Must Clean Toilets' Remark
IAS officer Alagu Varsini has said students studying in government schools are not from a posh background and should wash their toilets, do their cooking and sweep their rooms
An IAS officer from Telangana has triggered a massive political row with comments about students cleaning toilets at their schools. Her comments have come under fire, with demands that the Revanth Reddy-led state government transfer her from her post.
The officer, Alagu Varsini, reportedly said students studying in government schools are not from a posh background and should wash their own toilets, do their own cooking and sweep their rooms. She is the secretary of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society and has said 'selective editing" of her comments had led to the controversy.
The opposition, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), has called her statement as displaying discriminatory attitudes towards students from marginalised communities, prompting the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) to take note of the incident while also seeking details.
According to a report published by NDTV, the NCSC on Monday issued a notice to Telangana chief secretary K Ramakrishna Rao and director general of police (DGP) Dr Jitender, asking about the comments. It has sought replies within a fortnight.
The BRS has alleged that Varsini's comments are not only derogatory but can be seen as pushing the new generation of Dalit children into a similar situation as their previous generations. Party leader K Kavitha accused the Congress government in the state of taking away grants from Gurukul schools that enabled them to hire cleaners and caretakers. She targeted Revanth Reddy for being 'anti-poor, anti-Dalit" and demanded the officer's removal as well as the restoration of social welfare grants in these schools.
'Congress government's anti-poor attitude is reflected in this shocking behaviour by an official, at Social Welfare Gurukul Society. The evidence of which is available in the audio clip !! Each social welfare school was granted Rs 40,000 per month during the BRS rule for hiring four temporary workers for cleaning tasks. This has been stopped by Congress government starting May this year. The government has also done away with having assistant caretakers in the 240 schools, forcing the students to take up the role of wardens and manage kitchens. Now the officer is Forcing children to clean toilets in schools !!" (sic) she said in a post on X, where she also attached the viral audio clip.
Kavitha said the social welfare grants cancelled by the Congress had been set aside by the previous KCR-led regime. 'The statements goes against the very concept of establishing Gurukuls to protect students from marginalised communities from caste and class bias. This behaviour is discriminatory, exploitative, and violates basic principles of child rights and dignity. It only Reflects Revanth Reddy government's anti poor, anti Dalith attitude !! I demand the government to immediately take steps to remove the officer and start giving the required funds to run the social welfare schools properly," (sic) she added.
Congress government's anti-poor attitude is reflected in this shocking behaviour by an official, at Social Welfare Gurukul Society.The evidence of which is available in the audio clip !!
Each social welfare school was granted Rs 40,000 per month during the BRS rule for hiring… pic.twitter.com/GcDfgKHXBl
— Kavitha Kalvakuntla (@RaoKavitha) May 28, 2025
WHAT IS THE CONTROVERSY?
Varsini's comments recently went viral after an audio clip surfaced in which she was heard saying 'holistic education includes teaching sanitation and personal hygiene". She, however, told NDTV that her intention was to ensure children under her care received 'an all-round education, both from books and lessons on self-care".
'… the children come to us when they are 10 years old and leave when they are 18. In that time we want to provide a holistic education, not just a bookish education. If they enter the system at nine or 10 years old, and I make them study for nine hours and send them back, then what will they learn about self-care or cleanliness? Is education only from books? I don't think so," she was quoted.
First Published:
June 02, 2025, 16:34 IST
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