Decision to suspend teacher who sought more classrooms comes under fire in Karnataka

On May 27, Veeranna Madiwalar had walked from his school to the Block Education Office, holding an image of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and a placard demanding the construction of four rooms. He sat in front of the office and announced a fast unto death till his demand was met.

Some intellectuals and writers have criticised the decision of the government of Karnataka to suspend a primary school headmaster for his silent protest demanding four additional classrooms in Raibag in Belagavi district.

The zilla panchayat has issued an order suspending, until further inquiry, Veeranna Madiwalar, headmaster of the government primary school in Ambedkar Nagar in Nidagundi in Belagavi district, for holding a silent protest seeking construction of additional classrooms. The order says he had behaved ‘in a manner not befitting a government servant’.

On May 27, Mr. Madiwalar had walked from his school to the Block Education Office, holding an image of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and a placard demanding the construction of four rooms. He sat in front of the office and announced a fast unto death till his demand was met.

The BEO and tahsildar of Raibag told him that the government had sanctioned two rooms and the construction would begin soon. They asked him to withdraw his protest, but he did not do so. He said the protest would continue till the government gave a concrete assurance about new rooms.

The officials claimed that he argued with them in ‘an insensitive and uncivilised manner’.

The teacher, however, claimed that the officers were blind to his sincere requests, and misinterpreted his intention. “They issued a suspension order within 24 hours of giving me a show-cause notice. The notice said I should respond in 24 hours. But I was suspended before I could do so,” he said.

S.G. Siddaramaiah, former chairman of the Karnataka Book Authority, advised the State Government to stop organising the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana for a few years, and take up construction of classrooms and other infrastructure in all schools. The government spends between ₹20-30 crore per year on the sammelana. “That money could easily be diverted to such infrastructure creation,” he said.