Religion over education: Government school teachers forced to turn priests in Haryana

In a recent directive, a copy of which is with DNA, as many as 90 teachers from various government schools in Haryana were directed to attend the day-long training for priests to facilitate Kapal Mochan Fair 2017 in Yamunanagar. Many teachers did not report for a training session on October 29. They were served show cause notice and asked to be present for training next day for face department proceedings. 

According to a report in The Indian Express, most teachers joined the training programme on Monday. "Only two-three teachers have sought exemption on medical grounds. Now there is no need to take action against anybody" Bilaspur's Sub Divisional Magistrate Naveen Ahuja was reported as saying by The Indian Express. Ahuja defended the move, saying they have taken the help of employees of other departments as well to manage the fair where a large number of devotees show up. "Such duties are being given to teachers for the past five-six years," he said.

Such a move has attracted a lot of criticism as poor results continue to mar the performance of government schools in the state. Many allege that Haryana government is more keen on training its teachers to assist priests for an ongoing five-day religious fair and distribute prasad rather than be in classrooms. Most of these teachers take many classes in a day and now their absence for a week adversely affects the overall development of the students. Teachers remain occupied with non-teaching work throughout the year and despite their objections, they are made to do jobs which are not related to teaching students at schools. 

Though most of the teachers giving their services as Priests these days remain guarded in their statements, members of the teachers' union have started openly raising their objections.  The orders invited sharp criticism from teachers who condemned the move. "Ya to hum school mein padhaein, ya puja-path karein. It has become a norm to deploy teachers on all kinds of non-teaching duties. When we did not attend the training, we were threatened with disciplinary action. If teachers remain absent from classrooms, how are we supposed to improve the results?" said Jagdeep Singh, a member of the teachers' union.

Earlier, Haryana government seemed to distance itself from the diktat, leaving the ball in the district administration's court. "It could be the district administration's order," said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

BJP Spokesperson Jawahar Yadav defended the move saying, "It is just about distributing prasad to devotees during the fair. The teachers are not being trained to become full-fledged priests."

However, it is not the first time that teachers have been roped in to perform duties during the religious fair, as over 100 teachers are deployed in the religious fair since 2014, when 110 were on duty inside the temple, 110 in 2015 and 105 teachers were roped in last year.

When questioned, Deputy Commissioner, Yamunanagar, Rohtash Singh Kharb said the order was taken due to administrative constraints. "It is a huge event and we need manpower. Out of 2,000 officials employed, 90 of them are teachers. It is a religious fair and teachers are required to assist the pujaris, including giving prasad, handling the donations for eight hours every day. The schools can manage by substituting teachers."

The five day religious far, Kapalmochan-2017 which began on October 31 is organized every year in Yamunanagar and witnesses a footfall of over 5 lakh devotees from across Punjab and Haryana. As many as 2,000 district-level officials are deputed on several duties for the fair, which includes at least 100 teachers every year.