A notice was circulated even before the proposal was passed in general body meeting
Mumbai : Enraged by the civic body’s decision to regularise yoga and Suryanamaskar at the MCGM-run schools, the Samajwadi Party on Friday demanded the resignation of the civic education officer for circulating a notice in the civic schools to practice yoga and Suryanamaskar a fortnight ago.
The Samajwadi Party activists, led by MLA Abu Azmi and corporator Rais Shaikh, staged a protest against the BJP-Sena Suryanamaskar mandate at the Azad Maidan . Mahesh Palkar, the education officer in the civic body, had circulated a notice even before the proposal was passed in the general body meeting.
Palkar was unavailable for a comment for the circular when contacted. Citing the circular, Rais Shaikh, SP leader in the civic body, said, “A clarification should be given about the notice which was circulated in the civic schools before the regularising of yoga.”
Moreover, Shaikh on Friday issued a legal notice to the civic chief and sought a reply within seven days. Shaikh said, “The legal notice mentions the proposal which has violated constitutional rights of people. If the commissioner fails to reply in seven days then we will move to high court. “
Citing the decision to mandate yoga in civic schools, Shaikh said, “We strongly oppose the decision to regularise Suryanamaskar and make it mandatory for all the students from all the religions. We are not opposing the exercise but the decision of regularising it for all students won’t be tolerated.”
Samita Kamble, BJP corporator from Mulund, had moved the controversial proposal in the civic body, saying Yoga and Suryanamaskar would help students of the 1,285 civic schools maintain fitness.
Moreover, 400 out of the 1,285 civic schools are Urdu medium schools where the exercise will be mandatory. While the Shiv Sena chose to keep mum about its stand on the proposal, the discussion in the civic meet led to a heated argument between the SP and the BJP corporators.
However, the prolonged discussion boiled down to regularising yoga in all the civic schools. Unhappy with the decision, the opposition parties walked off the general body meeting.
