Many irregularities found in rape-accused godman's Rajasthan ashram
Jaipur, June 23: Many irregularities were found during the recent visit of the State Women Commission team to the ashram of Daati Maharaj in Pali, its chief said on Saturday.
Rajasthan Women's Commission chairperson Suman Sharma told IANS that all rules and regulations were being breached in the school and colleges being run in the Pali ashram. While the institution's registration has not been renewed since last three years, the records of female students, staying there, fails to give any details as to where these girls belong to, she said.
Sharma also said that there were no records to ascertain the correct number of girls in the ashram, with only names of hundreds of these girls jotted down in a note book.
"Surprisingly, their fathers' name is different in this copy while the affidavit says something else. Also, the age-related information looks fake," she said.
"When my team went to ashram, we met two people - one of whom introduced himself as principal while the other introduced himself as cashier. When they were asked to produce NOC of the Education Department, they had no clue about it. Nothing was clear from records that from where the orphan girls had come and since when are they staying here. The school, college and hostel had no records," said Sharma.
She also said that the ashram's employees were not cooperative.
"The register they showed had poor/incomplete records of enrolment... There were no clues as to when the girls passed out and in which class and in which year. Some unclear handwritten notes were found which showed different records in terms of their native place, father's name and other such details. We were informed that a few girls have gone to their homes on summer education," said Sharma.
"We were informed that there were 151 girls, but our team found 253 girls on the premises. They were tribal girls belonging to Godhra and Udaipur region. They were too scared to talk to our team and gave different versions. At one time, they said they had come to ashram 15 days back, while on the other time, they said it was some 30 days. Their changing versions raised doubts amongst our team members," she added.
Sharma said that subsequently in view of the safety and security of these girls, the Commission had written to the Superintendent of Police requesting him to ensure security of these girls.
A letter was written to the District Collector asking him why no action has been taken to check the records in this ashram, while the Department of Social Justice was asked to to take these girls under their custody.
"We have sent records of our findings to respective departments and are awaiting a reply in next three days after which we will decide our future course of action," Sharma added.
Meanwhile, one of the team members of the commission said that there are chances of human trafficking taking place as no proper records of girls going out and coming into the ashram have been maintained. "However, we will explore this angle later as our present priority is to ensure proper safety of these innocent girls," she added.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
