SRINAGAR: Coinciding with the reopening of the schools across Kashmir, the ruling coalition government issued perhaps the biggest ever mass transfer order of school teachers. The order touches a total of 6605 staffers of the education department at higher secondary and school levels in all the ten districts.
The order issued and uploaded on the website on the education department later disappeared from the site for unknown reasons.
Reports from Jammu said that a large number of teachers and lawmakers had approached the education minister to make certain changes. “The rush was so huge that the minister later left the office and went on a field visit,” one official of the ministry said.
A copy of the 328 page order, available with Kashmir Life suggest that it touches 878 lecturers, 2058 masters, 3603 teachers besides 66 inter-district transfers.
South Kashmir Pulwama district topped the list as it involved 1565 transfers. These included 98 lecturers, 470 masters and 971 school teachers.
Srinagar played second fiddle with 1084 transfers including 176 lecturers, 350 masters and 532 teachers.
Another south Kashmir district – Islamabad – reported 929 transfers including that of 120 lecturers, 238 masters and 568 teachers.
Baramulla witnessed a total of 726 transfers including that of 146 lecturers, 423 masters and 157 teachers.
Tiny Ganderbal district had 610 transfers including that of 48 lecturers, 115 masters and 441 teachers.
Budgam saw 511 transfers which included 106 lecturers, 152 masters and 253 teachers. Border Kupwara district will have 509 shifts in its educational institutions which would include 38 lecturers, 173 masters and 295 teachers.
Kulgam had 304 transfers including 69 lecturers, 64 masters and 169 teachers. Its neighbouring Shopian district saw 133 teachers that included 30 lecturers, 31 masters and 72 teachers.
North Kashmir Bandipore district had a total of 234 teachers touched which includes 47 lecturers, 42 masters and 145 teachers.
The transfer order came on the very first day of the academic season. It came after two years of preaching that the new policy would ensure the transfers take place once in an academic years during lean days.
Education Minister Altaf Bukhari and Director Education Kashmir Rajiv Ranjan were not immediately available for commenting on the marathon transfer order that runs on 329 pdf pages. While an aide of minister said he was in a meeting, Director Education did not pick the phone.
However, a top government source told Kashmir Life that the transfers are in tune with the policy “but it was slightly delayed”. When asked why the order was put on website and withdrawn immediately, the source said that there would be certain corrections in case of single mothers, and certain pressing cases like teachers having special children back home. They said the window for transfers will now remain closed for the entire year.
