2,000 teachers protest against SIR duty at Azad Maidan

The protesters also demanded the withdrawal of the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) requirement for in-service teachers and the immediate cancellation of FIRs filed against teachers who refused election-related duties

Mumbai: Thousands of educators staged protests across Maharashtra on Thursday against the deployment of teachers as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, leading to the closure of several government schools.

The protesters also demanded the withdrawal of the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) requirement for in-service teachers and the immediate cancellation of FIRs filed against teachers who refused election-related duties. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

The protesters also demanded the withdrawal of the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) requirement for in-service teachers and the immediate cancellation of FIRs filed against teachers who refused election-related duties.

Mumbai’s Azad Maidan hosted one of the largest such agitations, where around 2,000 teachers, non-teaching staff, principals and representatives of school managements gathered from across the city, despite the state education department warning of salary deductions. The protesters said that teachers were spending more time on election work than teaching, affecting students’ education.

A delegation of teachers later met state education minister Dadaji Bhuse, who assured them that the government would hold a meeting with the municipal commissioner, deputy commissioner of education and revenue department officials to find ways to reduce the burden of SIR duty on teachers.

According to members of the delegation, the education minister also assured them that no teacher in Mumbai would face an FIR in the future for refusing BLO duties. The minister told them that the government would issue orders to immediately withdraw the FIRs already registered against teachers. Bhuse further said the government would consider assigning BLO work to employees from other departments and would also review the appointment of female teachers for such duties.

On the TET matter, Bhuse said the government is positively considering conducting a separate examination for teachers who are already in service, according to delegation members.

Teachers’ unions have demanded a compensation of ₹1 crore for the families of teaching and non-teaching staff who died during BLO and SIR duties. They have also demanded that schools return to their regular full-day schedule and suggested that National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS) students, along with retired teachers and staff, should be assigned election duties instead of serving teachers.

Sarpanch protests in Sambhajinagar

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Gevrai Payga village sarpanch Mangesh Sable staged a protest at the district collector’s office, saying that all four teachers in his village school had been assigned BLO duties, leaving no one to teach students.

Sable claimed that more than half of the teachers in several schools have been assigned SIR work, causing major academic losses. He demanded that election duties be given to staff from other government departments instead of teachers.

His stand has received support from many teachers, who said more public representatives should raise their voice to protect classroom teaching.