Latest news with #Varsini
India Today
02-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Rights panel seeks report on IAS officer's ‘Dalit students clean toilet' remark
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has issued a formal notice to the Telangana government seeking an Action Taken Report (ATR) over remarks made by a senior IAS officer, Alagu Varsini. The Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of Varsini's comments, which allegedly stated that Dalit students are made to clean toilets in Scheduled Caste (SC) Gurukula remarks came to public attention after an internal meeting, where Varsini, who is currently serving as Secretary of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society, addressing school principals, was recorded saying, 'They must do the room cleaning ... why can't they clean their own toilets ... These children of ours, they are not from posh society, where as soon as they go and sit down, the meal comes on the table ... If someone replies that you are doing work, by order they have to do roti making, they will do roti making.'advertisementThe NCSC, in a notice dated May 31, directed the Telangana Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to submit an ATR within 15 days. The Commission has also sought detailed information about the remarks and the circumstances in which they were made. NCSC Director G Sunil Kumar Babu warned that non-compliance could lead the Commission to invoke its powers under Article 338 of the Constitution, which allows it to summon the authorities concerned for a personal or representative appearance before the India Today TV reached out to her for clarification of her remarks, Varsini said the comments were part of a 2.5-hour conversation. According to her, the discussion was with the principals about the implementation of an annual calendar that includes weekend 'shamdan' (cleaning) activities such as ground, dormitory and toilet cleaning. She explained, 'In the whole annual calendar, the shamdan should become a part of the children activity ... maybe 18 to 20 hours in the whole year the children would have put shamdan.'advertisementShe described the activity as an alternative to National Service Scheme (NSS) or Swachh Bharat programmes, stating, 'Our schools do not have NSS ... usually we do it only for one day. So what we thought is to include it as a regular part of the calendar.'She defended her earlier comments by saying the students she was talking about were from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds: 'Our children are not from posh societies. The annual family income cannot cross Rs 2 lakh. That is our basic selection criteria.' Varsini also said many parents had requested that the schools impart life skills to children, complaining that students were not helping with chores at home during holidays.'It is a very shameful thing that even in the era where we are introducing coding to our children, people still talk about caste politics,' she said. She alleged that the remarks were taken out of context and selectively edited to damage her reputation, adding, 'Many reforms we are bringing .. . they cannot influence me, so all that they can do is tarnish my image.'Trending Reel
NDTV
02-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Row Over Telangana Officer's 'Children Must Clean Toilets' Remark
New Delhi: Comments by a Telangana government official - Alagu Varsini, about Dalit students at state-run gurukuls and hostels made to do 'chores', i.e., clean their toilets and rooms and even make some of their own food - have triggered a row, with the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi demanding her transfer and the National Commission for Scheduled Caste seeking details. The NCSC on Monday issued a notice to the Telangana Chief Secretary, K Ramakrishna Rao, and the Director-General of the police, Dr Jitender, asking about the 'derogatory' comments. Replies have been sought within a fortnight. Ms Varshini's sacking has also been demanded by her predecessor, Praveen Kumar, who told NDTV, in a deeply sarcastic note, that she could first "teach the Chief Minister and his children and grandchildren holistic habits". The BRS, meanwhile, has said that Ms Varsini's comments - about children "who don't belong to posh families', a comment seen as referring to Dalit kids - is "pushing children (from that community) into the same situation as they have been for generations" rather than helping. BRS leader K Kavitha ripped into the ruling Congress, whom she also accused of stopping grants of Rs 40,000 per month to hire four temp workers per school for cleaning tasks. This, she said on X, had been set aside when the BRS of ex-Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was in power. "The Congress government has also done away with having assistant caretakers in 240 schools, forcing children to take up the role of wardens and manage kitchens. Now the officer is forcing students to clean toilets! Her statements go against the very concept of establishing gurukuls... to protect students from marginalised communities from caste and class bias..." she said. 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… — Kavitha Kalvakuntla (@RaoKavitha) May 28, 2025 "This behaviour is discriminatory, exploitative, and violates basic principles of child rights and dignity. It only reflects (Chief Minister) Revanth Reddy' government's anti-poor and anti-Dalit attitude! I demand the government immediately take steps to remove the officer and start giving the required funds to run social welfare schools properly," the BRS leader wrote on X. The row over Ms Varsini's comments broke late last month after an audio clip surfaced in which she was heard saying "holistic education includes teaching sanitation and personal hygiene". Ms Varsini spoke to NDTV and said that her intention was, and remains, to ensure children in her care receive an all-round education, both from books and lessons on "self-care". #NDTVExclusive | "We aim to provide holistic education " : Alagu Varsini (@Alagu19066600), Secretary, Residential Institute Society on BRS leader Kavitha's 'anti-poor' charges against Congress government, saying "kids used to clean toilets"; Congress denies charges @umasudhir — NDTV (@ndtv) May 28, 2025 "... 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." Last week, Ms Varsini, who is Secretary of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society, called out the 'selective editing' of a speech that led to this row. The ruling Congress has hit back, meanwhile, at the BRS, accusing it of trying to undermine the development of the state and of being unable to digest the election defeat last year. #NDTVExclusive | "Kavitha not able to digest development" : Congress MP Mallu Ravi (@DrMalluRavi1) to NDTV's @umasudhir — NDTV (@ndtv) May 28, 2025 "This is a political comment by Kavitha," Congress MP Mallu Ravi told NDTV, referring to the BRS leader's X post. "I do not agree if students are washing or cleaning anything... but I don't know if this is happening. The idea is not to make students clean... it is to make them study well."
