TURA, July 22: Various local organisations from Tura town on Thursday opposed the state government’s move to allow incumbent Dadenggre SDSEO, Ella Begum, to hold dual charge as DSEO, Tura, and demanded that she be immediately removed as DSEO and a full-fledged authority be appointed to the post.
The bodies comprising the Senior Citizens Forum Tura (SCFT), Garo Graduates’ Union (GGU), Association for Democracy and Empowerment (ADE), AYWO, FKJGP, GSU and the New Tura Development Forum (NTDF), in their memorandum to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, gave the government seven days’ time to act on the matter.
The organisations claimed that Begum is arbitrarily holding her post without any office order and many court cases are pending against her, including disciplinary actions by the department for her alleged irregularities and anomalies in her functioning.
Justifying their dissent, the groups pointed out that various organisations from Dadenggre had earlier reacted in a similar manner when Begum was promoted as the principal of Dadenggre Puri Secondary School.
“She was not even allowed to enter the office to join her post when she was promoted as principal of the said school. We are also on the same footing and strongly oppose her posting as the DSEO, Tura,” Ade president, Dalseng Bira Ch Momin, said.
The organizations also suggested that the temporary arrangement and the appointment of in-charge officers in the Education department has to be done away with for better functioning and administration of the department while, at the same time, encouraged appointment of officers on regular basis to uplift the morale, work culture and efficiency of government servants.
Pointing out that many posts in the Education department are continuing to lie vacant in Garo Hills, the organisations asked the government to fill the posts up immediately without “bias and political interference”.
Making reference to the recent central report which tagged Meghalaya as the worst performer in school education, the groups urged the government to be proactive in equipping schools with sufficient teaching professionals, giving special care to infrastructural position of rural schools which are in dilapidated conditions.
