New Delhi: As many as 142 guest teachers in Delhi may face termination of service for allegedly refusing to perform their statutory duty as census enumerators, with the administration terming the act “gross negligence and indiscipline”.In a letter to the director of education dated April 24, Old Delhi district magistrate said, “The teachers had declined to carry out assigned census work despite an earlier communication issued on April 16 highlighting the difficulties caused by their unwillingness to participate in the exercise.”The district magistrate requested that their services be discontinued or terminated with immediate effect, saying that tolerating such acts of indiscipline could affect other staff members currently engaged in census duty.Meanwhile, the Government Teachers Association (GTA) of Delhi has requested education minister Ashish Sood to withdraw the proposed termination of the guest teachers. GTA general secretary Ajay Veer wrote to Sood and claimed that the refusal to join census duty was not an act of deliberate disobedience but a result of practical difficulties, lack of adequate resources and low remuneration.“Guest teachers are already working under precarious and temporary service conditions, and such harsh actions can severely impact their financial stability and morale,” Veer said..He also demanded that guest teachers continue to receive regular remuneration and be given additional honorarium for census duty.No immediate response was available from the education department. PTI
