L-G stalled appointment of principals by bypassing Education min, says Sisodia

New Delhi: A war of words continued between the AAP and Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena as Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused the L-G of stalling the appointment of principals by bypassing the Education minister.

Sisodia alleged that the L-G has been lying by claiming delay on part of the city government and that Saxena has directed the education department officials to report to him and not the minister.

“L-G Saxena is misleading the people of Delhi by falsely appropriating the credit for revival of 126 posts while putting the remaining 244 posts on the back-burner. The L-G claims that he approved the abolition of 244 posts based on the proposal of the education department, but can he confirm that the file was routed to him through the education minister?” he said.

The Department of Education under Sisodia had proposed to scrap 244 posts of school principals and these were “deemed abolished” as they could not be filled for five years, the lieutenant governor’s office said on Tuesday, days after the AAP alleged the L-G was withholding appointment on these posts.

Saxena also said contrary to the claims made by the deputy chief minister, he did not agree with the proposal, and instead advised the education department to get conducted a study on the abolition or creation of posts of principals.

The L-G office also rejected the charges levelled against Saxena by Sisodia, terming them “patently false, bereft of facts, wrong, deliberately misleading and in utter disregard of constitutional provisions and orders of the High Court of Delhi”.

Sisodia alleged the L-G has issued a “false and misleading” statement with respect to appointment of school principals.

Alleging that the non-appointment of pincipals is a “failure” of the L-G’s functioning, he said, “If the L-G becomes in-charge of the services department and takes all decisions bypassing the education minister, then who is responsible for the failure? Why were these 244 posts not filled in time?”

Earlier, Sisodia had told a press conference on Sunday that they had ensured that the file for the appointment of 370 principals was sent to the L-G office, but only 126 were approved and the L-G was withholding appointments of 244 posts on “flimsy grounds”. He had also accused the L-G of taking over the services department unconstitutionally.

The L-G office has, however, rejected these claims. “In fact, the Education Department, under Manish Sisodia, submitted a proposal for the revival of 126 posts and abolition of 244 posts of principal, for approval of the Lt Governor,” it said.