The decision to hold byelections in two Assembly and three Lok Sabha constituencies on November 3 has caused uncertainty about the process of teacher transfer, which is scheduled to commence next Monday.
The process, which was supposed to have kick-started last November, has been postponed multiple times, causing anger in members of the teaching fraternity who have been eagerly awaiting transfer. The last transfer process was conducted in 2016.
A section of teachers who have applied for transfers has decided to stage a protest on Wednesday demanding that the schedule announced for transfers notified by the department last week be adhered to. According to the schedule, the counselling process is supposed to begin next Monday and the complete transfer process (all categories) is to be completed by November 23.
Transfers are conducted in four categories — excess teacher availability, compulsory transfer, mutual transfer, and transfer based on request.
Basavaraj Gurikar, president of Karnataka State Government Primary School Teachers’ Association, said that thousands of teachers were eagerly awaiting transfers in the hope that they could be with their families. There are also requests on health grounds, he said.
Out of the 2.02 lakh primary and high school teachers and Education Department officials, about 60,000 have applied for mutual transfer or transfer on request. The department has received around 2,000 objections on the basis for which excess teachers have been identified.
P.C. Jaffer, Commissioner for Public Instruction, said the department would write to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and the process would be carried out based on his direction.
Sources in the department said there are two types of transfer — within the district and between districts. “While there is uncertainty over the conduct of inter-district transfers, if the CEO gives us permission, we can conduct transfers within the districts for all except those districts where election is scheduled,” said an official.
Degree college principals too have approached elected representatives demanding that their transfers, which were scheduled to be held in the end of September, be effected at the earliest. T.M. Manjunath, president, Karnataka Government College Teachers’ Association, said: “[The authorities] can conduct the counselling now and give the transfer orders after the byelections.”