Delhi government says 'no' to Muslim school teachers going for Friday prayers
New Delhi, April 27: The Delhi government has told the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) that Muslim teachers cannot be allowed to go for Juma prayers during school hours, a senior official said on Friday.
DMC Chairman Zaraful Islam Khan told IANS that the Education Department of the Delhi government had in a written response said that teachers "can't leave their classes" and go for Juma prayers on Friday, as it would "harm the interests of students".
"They (Education Department) said that the rules can't be relaxed and teachers have to reach school by 12.45 (p.m) for classes which begin at 1 (p.m)," Khan said.
Earlier, teachers had approached the Commission with a request to allow them to go for prayers on Friday, after which it had sought a response from the Education Department and the three municipal corporations on the issue.
The response from the municipal corporations were awaited, Khan said.
"The teachers told us that there is a Union Home Ministry order of 1954 which says that employees can go for prayers after foregoing a certain amount from the salary. We have written to the Home Ministry to know whether the rule is still applicable," Khan said.
The response from the Home Ministry is yet to come, according to Khan.
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Probe launched as 25 tigers reported missing from Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
In response to alarming findings in a recent internal report, Rajasthan’s Chief Wildlife Warden, Pavan Kumar Upadhyay, has established a three-member committee to investigate the reported disappearance of 25 tigers from the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. Upadhyay’s order, dated November 4, notes ongoing concerns in tiger monitoring data, which indicate the absence of concrete evidence for the whereabouts of 11 tigers for over a year and 14 others for less than a year. Ranthambore, home to around 75 tigers, recently lost tigers T-58 and T-86.
According to Upadhyay, multiple reminders were issued to the Field Director of Ranthambore to address the issue, yet conditions remain unsatisfactory. The committee, composed of senior Forest Department officials—APCCF (Wildlife) Rajesh Kumar Gupta, Dr. T Mohan Raj, and Manas Singh—has been directed to submit a comprehensive report within two months. Their tasks include investigating the efforts made by field authorities to locate the missing tigers, examining records, recommending disciplinary actions if needed, and providing suggestions to improve the reserve’s monitoring systems.
