Paanaje SDMC dispute resolved as plea withdrawn

MANGALURU: The SDMC president of the Government Higher Primary School in Paanaje of Puttur taluk, who moved high court questioning about dissolution and re-election of SDMC a few days after she was elected as the president, has been resolved after several months of battle.
Seetha U S Bhat, who will now continue as the president of the school development and monitoring committee (SDMC), had filed a writ petition in the high court, questioning the dissolution and re-election of SDMC. However, she has now withdrawn the petition following a request from parents, teachers, and the BEO of Puttur.
One of the senior teachers at the school, who did not wish to be named, shared that a fresh formation of SDMC was sought after the previous term ended in October 2021. As part of the process, a meeting with all parents held in the presence of Paanaje gram panchayat president Bharathi Bhat.
Later, an election was held to select the president and vice-president posts for the SDMC. In this, Seetha and M Aboobakar Arlapadavu received equal number of votes.
As the next procedure, the selection was done through a chit process, where Seetha was elected as the president, and Arlapadavu, who served two terms as the president of SDMC, was chosen as vice-president.
However, Arlapadavu was unhappy because he wanted another term as the president. So he complained and put pressure on the gram panchayat which is the head of SDMCs.
The panchayat officially wrote a letter to the school urging the dissolution of SDMC and to hold fresh elections. Unhappy with the panchayat’s decision, Seetha moved High Court and filed a writ petition.
She brought an injunction order, and it stayed the re-election process, which was scheduled for the second week of January 2022. After several months of battle, parents, teachers, and the Puttur BEO convinced Seetha that the issue in court was hindering the school’s development. A week ago, she agreed to withdraw the writ petition. She was asked to continue as the SDMC president.
The tussle between the two members resulted in the stalling of school development. The teacher said that since there is no SDMC, they cannot use any funds sanctioned by the government for development purposes. “The teachers have been paying from their pockets for various development works and to purchase daily needs. We are happy that the issue is finally resolved,” the teacher added. The school has about 227 students.
Seetha said she withdrew the petition after receiving a request from parents who said that it was affecting their children’s education. “The issue was settled amicably, and I will continue as the SDMC president,” she told STOI.