The education sector in Maharashtra was shocked when the lecturers in private college were assigned duty as a coordinator at wine shops in the Murtijapur tehsil of Akola district. Causing an uproar in the state, these orders were withdrawn within 24 hours.
The Maharashtra government had allowed the sale of liquor, which led to large gatherings outside wine shops. The norms of social distancing were openly violated, which increased the risk of CoVID-19 transmission. Receiving flak for this move, the government decided to regulate crowds at wine shops. The administration was ordered to assign coordinators or observers at shops to ensure social distancing.
Murtijapur tehsildar Pradeep Pawar, on May 6, issued orders for nine teachers working at Sant Gadge Maharaj College in Murtijapur to work as a coordinator at nine wine shops in the tehsil. Interestingly, Sant Gadge Baba, in whose name this college is working, had fought for the prohibition of liquor his whole life.
They were asked to observe physical distancing at wine shops and ensure other rules, such as wearing masks, were followed from May 7. This order created a wave of protest in the education sector of the state. Vidarbha Junior College Teachers Association (VIJUCTA) raised this issue with the state government.
Tehsildar defends his decision
“We have not purposefully assigned duties to these lecturers at wine shops. We had assigned the duty of observers to available employees at ration shops and check posts. The remaining human resources were assigned duty at wine shops,” Pradeep Pawar told the media on Thursday morning.
The rule of odd and even is being implemented in Murtijapur. Since May 7 is an odd date, all shops, including wine shops, were closed. “We are not allowed to go out of our home. Therefore, many of us, including myself, did not go to the assigned wine shop. But few of us were assigned duties at wine shops in the nearby villages and they went for that duty. We are not opposed to government work, but we should be given a work where we can use our intellectual capacity. When the police cannot enforce physical distancing at wine-shops, how will we be able to manage it?” Prakash Wankhade, a lecture in Gadge Maharaj College, asked.
When the news of such orders went viral, the district collector intervened and directed the tehsildar to cancel the order.
“As per the orders of the district collector, only police personnel should be appointed at wine shops. Therefore, May 6 orders of assigning duty to the teaching community are being cancelled,” Pawar said in his new order. “I also express my apology if I have hurt the feelings of the teaching community,” he added.
