Punjab schoolteachers allege anomalies in transfers; Harjot Bains rejects charge

Government schoolteachers on Sunday alleged large-scale anomalies in transfers. The transfer list was issued on August 22.

However, Education Minister Harjot Bains dismissed the allegations as “baseless”. “The transfers were done in a transparent manner and the system is run by the Governance Reforms Department,” he said.

Meanwhile, Joint Teachers’ Front convener Sukhwinder Singh Chahal said transparency of online transfers was “completely violated”.

He pointed out that the authorities did not list all available stations during the selection process to “adjust its favourites”.

He said the special need category was ignored in the transfers and the stations demanded by them were also given to “favourites”. He said according to field reports, similar discrepancies were reported from other schools in Bathinda and Barnala.

Democratic Teachers’ Front state president Vikramdev said teachers were posted at Government Senior Secondary School, Mal Road, Bathinda, and Government High School, Dandsar, Bathinda, despite “no vacancy” shown earlier.

Several union leaders said many teachers could not choose the station of their choice as the available stations were “kept hidden” from them.