Will knock on court door if I am not transferred: Suspended principal
DEHRADUN: “I will move court after all my attempts to seek justice at the government level will fail,” said primary schoolteacher Uttara Pant Bahuguna, who was suspended after her spat with chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat at a ‘janata darbar’ held at his residence on Thursday.
The 57-year-old also sought the chief minister’s apology for the way he “publicly humiliated me and got me escorted out” of his residence amid a crowd of people.
Bahuguna had gone there to request Rawat for a transfer to Dehradun from Jeyestwari, a remote area in Uttarkashi where she is posted as the primary school principal. She requested for a transfer on the ground that she had served in hill areas for the past 25 years and being a widow needed to shift to Dehradun to look after her children.
“The chief minister publicly issued suspension order against me, although I am yet to receive the letter,” said the mother of two grown-up children.
Bahuguna seems a bit happy that a couple of days back school education minister Arvind Pandey called her up to express his regret over the incident at the janata darbar. “He (Pandey) told me that he would see me on July 3. He also said that whatever happened was wrong but he will get things resolved,” she said. “He (Pandey) also said the chief minister had not intended what had happened at janata darbar,” she recalled, adding that she told him that the public humiliation she suffered can’t be compensated.
“It can’t be compensated until the chief minister publicly expresses his regret because he publicly humiliated me,” Bahuguna said. “Wherever I am today it is solely because of my ability.”
The teacher said she doesn’t regret the foul language she used against the chief minister. “I don’t regret that because he publicly humiliated me by asking his men to oust me from janta darbar,” Bahuguna said, adding she is getting feelers from the chief minister’s men saying that he was ready to sort out the issue.
“All I asked him for was that being a widow I want to be shifted to Dehradun so that my children and I could look after one another,” she said. Bahuguna said there is no legal hurdle in her transfer because so many teachers from different hill districts have already been transferred to Dehradun. She said Pandey did not assure that he would have her transferred to Dehradun. “He only assured me that he would look into the matter and try resolving it,” Bahuguna said.
“I have no problems, if that issue is resolved at the government level,” she said. “If it remains unresolved, then I will be left with no option but to move the court for justice.”
Cabinet minister Prakash Pant said technically, the principal “stands no chance to be shifted to Dehradun as she belongs” to the Uttarkashi district cadre. “Besides, she has also availed of a promotion, which is another major legal hurdle.”