LS polls: EC orders large-scale transfers of bureaucrats, West Bengal DGP
New Delhi (PTI): Seeking to ensure level-playing field in Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission on Monday ordered the removal of home secretaries of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, sources said.
It also ordered the removal of the West Bengal director general of police, they added.
Also, the secretary of the general administrative departments of Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh have been removed.
Days after announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections, the poll panel under CEC Rajiv Kumar also ordered removal of Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, additional commissioners and deputy commissioners.
The commission had directed all the state governments to transfer officers connected with election-related work, who have completed three years or are in their home districts. Maharashtra had not complied with the directions in respect of few municipal commissioners and some additional and deputy municipal commissioners.
While conveying displeasure to the state chief secretary, the commission directed transfer of BMC and the additional and deputy commissioners with the direction to report by 6 pm on Monday.
The chief secretary was also directed to transfer all the similarly placed municipal commissioners and additional or deputy municipal commissioners of other corporations in Maharashtra.
The step is a part of the commission's efforts to maintain a level-playing field and ensure the integrity of the electoral process, which has been emphasised by CEC Kumar on several occasions.
The move comes after the commission comprising CEC Kumar and fellow ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu met here on Monday.
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TISS terminates contracts of nearly 100 teaching and non-teaching staff
Mumbai: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has terminated the contracts of nearly 100 teaching and non-teaching staff members, effective June 30, 2024. The termination letters, issued on June 28, stated that the contracts would not be renewed, leaving many long-serving staff members facing unemployment.
This decision has shocked the TISS community, particularly since the Centre converted TISS into a fully publicly funded institute last year.
Professor Manoj Kumar Tiwari, the in-charge Vice-Chancellor of TISS, explained, "These staff were appointed under various projects funded by Tata Trust. Funding for these projects has stopped in the last few months. Considering this, we allowed these teachers to work on a clock-hour basis at the institute. However, we are now unable to secure financial aid, so we decided to terminate their services. We will reappoint them once funding from the Trust resumes."
In response to the mass termination, the Progressive Students Forum (PSF), a students' collective from TISS, expressed their concerns on social media. They highlighted the potential significant shortage of both teaching and non-teaching staff at the institute.
Students have voiced their worries about the negative impact on the student-faculty ratio, citing previous years' National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) data. They fear that the current faculty will be insufficient to meet the needs of the student body and that the termination of these positions might pave the way for politically motivated appointments in the future.
"TISS, a prestigious institute with a nearly 90-year history, has earned its status as a leading social science institution through the contributions of its faculty and staff. Last year, the union government transformed TISS into a fully publicly funded institute. However, this transition has led to delays in student aid and increased financial pressures on students from economically and socially marginalized backgrounds. The latest decision to terminate staff positions further highlights the BJP government’s perceived anti-education and anti-TISS stance," the PSF's statement read.
The PSF has strongly condemned the mass termination and called for immediate action. They demand that the TISS administration revoke the terminations and collaborate with the union government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to secure funding for these positions. Alternatively, they urge urgent discussions with the Tata Education Trust to reinstate funding and protect these jobs.
