Gurgaon: Salwan school parents refuse to vote online for school body election

Parents of children studying in the Salwan Public School in Sector 15 refused to participate in an online election for the parent-teacher association (PTA) and demanded ballot voting. Parents alleged that digital votes could be fudged.

Parents of children studying in the Salwan Public School in Sector 15 refused to participate in an online election for the parent-teacher association (PTA) and demanded ballot voting. Parents alleged that digital votes could be fudged.

Parents said they protested because the election announcement lacked clarity and transparency. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

After negotiations, the district education officer and school authorities have now arranged for ballot voting as was done previously.

The school management on January 30 and February 17 had sent circulars to parents asking them to vote online on February 18 to form a PTA. But majority of parents refused and protested against online voting. They demanded the election be rescheduled on February 25.

“Many parents have not shared their email address with the school and they will not be able to vote in this case. Parents have not received any voting guidelines and the rule and regulations circular,” Gurvender Kaur of Sector 10-A said.

In such circumstances, some parents will not be able to vote and hence, parents demanded ballot voting on the school premises under the supervision of neutral observers.

“The school doesn’t have (pupil-teacher ratio) PTRs as per CBSE guidelines. Despite several requests from the parents’ body, no decision was taken by the school. After the district commissioner’s intervention, a notification has been released by the school. The school wanted to have an online voting for PTA but that is not a transparent process. We are requesting the school to have a ballot paper based voting on the school premises,” Pinki Sharma of Palam Vihar said.

Parents said they protested because the election announcement lacked clarity and transparency.

“It is strange that only one hour is given for the online voting. How will all parents manage to access the internet during that one hour?” Amit Ghai of Sector 15 sid.

District education officer Neelam Bhandari said the school authorities have agreed for voting through ballots and polling will now be conducted on February 25. “We are with the parents and we will not let any injustice done to them. The issue has been resolved and we will ensure that parents are satisfied with the decision,” Bhandari said.