The North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday suspended the head of a school in Wazirabad for segregating Hindu and Muslim students into different sections, PTI reported. Teacher CB Singh Sehrawat, who was heading the municipal school after the principal was transferred, had denied the allegations.
North MCD Commissioner Madhup Vyas said the allegations were found to be true after investigation. “We have suspended the head of the school with immediate effect and initiated major penalty charge sheet against him,” Vyas told PTI. He said Sehrawat’s conduct was bizarre and unpardonable, and “goes against the grain of our pluralistic society”.
The matter came to light after several teachers employed at the North Municipal Corporation of Delhi Boys’ School alleged that the classes were being divided along religious lines.
Acting on the basis of media reports, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development asked the corporation for a report. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development had asked the corporation for a report. The North MCD’s Director of Education HK Hem said a three-member team was sent to investigate the allegations. He said the school has about 700 students. Sehrawat will now face a departmental inquiry, he added.
North Delhi Mayor Adesh Gupta said Sehrawat was “found to be guilty in preliminary investigation”. “Social divide on the basis of caste, community or religion would not be tolerated in the schools of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation,” Gupta said. “The North Delhi Municipal Corporation follows the spirit of the Constitution. If any such divide is found to be in practice, it would be rectified immediately and strict action would be taken against those found guilty.”
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the education minister, on Wednesday said the government has sought a report. “The act of segregating children in a BJP-governed municipal corporation school is a conspiracy against the Constitution,” he said, according to The Indian Express.
The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights had said it took cognisance of the matter based on the media reports. It had directed the head of the school to produce the procedure followed in assigning sections to the students. The commission also ordered that steps be taken to prevent a repeat of such a situation.
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