Open School order to demarcate Muslim and Hindu holidays cancelled

Following protests by employees and activists, the Madhya Pradesh State Open School (MPSOS) on Saturday cancelled its August-24 controversial order regarding the clear demarcation of Muslim and Hindu holidays for its employees.

Following protests by employees and activists, the Madhya Pradesh State Open School (MPSOS) on Saturday cancelled its August-24 controversial order regarding the clear demarcation of Muslim and Hindu holidays for its employees.

Issued by MPSOS director and coordinator PR Tiwari, the notification was objected to by many employees and activists who said that the organization was trying to create a divide among the employees on religious lines.

Tiwari, however, had a completely different explanation for the notification. “People have unnecessarily making a fuss over this notification. The only reason behind issuing this was to decide leaves for workers. There are 25 leaves for a regular employee and the workers who are working on daily wages and collector rates have five leaves. So it was better to notify them on the pre- decided leaves then to wait before every occasion and announce it,” he said.

When asked whether a new notice will be issued or not, Tiwari said, “Now I don’t think we will issue any other notice and again get indulged in controversies. We will simply count the leaves of employees and inform them when they have availed their five leaves.

Earlier to it, the MPSOS made healines in May when its one male officer was thrashed by its 17 women employees for allegedly indulging in obscene acts. One of its women employees SaritaVerma told HT, “He used to call any one of our colleagues to his chamber and would behave in an obscene manner. That day we could not restrain ourselves and took this step.” The school management, however, said these employees didn’t want to work and wanted leaves so they created nuisance.