more-in Almost two months after they forced the Haryana government to bow down to their demand to upgrade the village school to the senior secondary-level, teenage girls from Rewari’s Gothra Tappa Dahina village once again resorted to agitation and locked up the school premises in protest against acute staff crunch. However, the agitation was suspended following assurance from local administration officials. Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg said the agitation was withdrawn within an hour after Additional Deputy Commissioner Captain Manoj Kumar assured that the matter would be resolved in the next couple of days. School principal Village sarpanch Suresh Chauhan said the school was upgraded in May but had just four teachers for the senior wing and a regular school principal was yet to be appointed. “Before the school was upgraded, there were eight teachers for the senior wing, from Class VI to Class X, against the sanctioned posts of 21 teachers. The number of teachers has gone down after the upgrade. Only four teachers are left for the senior wing. Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma had announced appointment of a principal with immediate effect, but that too has not happened so far,” claimed Mr. Chauhan. The girls felt their studies were adversely impacted due to acute staff crunch and sat on a dharna on Monday morning. But the local administration intervened soon and promised to resolve the matter. “Following this assurance, the girls decided to suspend the agitation,” said Mr. Chauhan. Earlier protest Thirteen girls from the village had gone on indefinite hunger strike in May this year seeking upgrading of their village school to the senior secondary-level, alleging they were molested and eve-teased on their way to school in neighbouring Kanwali village. After a week-long hunger strike, with support from native villagers, and after some of the girls were hospitalised due to dehydration, Mr. Sharma had in a press conference in Chandigarh on May 17 announced appointment of a school principal with immediate affect and its upgradation. Additional Chief Secretary (Education) P.K. Das said he had not received any report on the recent dharna and could not comment on the issue. Transfers underway However, he added, that annual teacher transfers were underway and the school would get a principal on a regular basis when transfers for school principals, Post-Graduate Teachers and Junior Basic Trained teachers were taken up in the second phase starting July 28. In the first phase, Trained Graduate Teachers, headmasters and elementary school headmasters were being transferred, he said. Mr. Das added that with the number of teachers being the same and several schools being upgraded, teachers would be deployed based on availability.

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