Principal In Madhya Pradesh Suspended For Distributing Notebooks With Savarkar's Photo

The Madhya Pradesh Government on Tuesday, January 14, suspended a principal of a government-run college at Malwasa, in Ratlam district two months after he allowed an NGO to distribute notebooks featuring 'Hindutva ideologue' Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

In November 2019, a Non-profit Governmental Organisation (NGO) named 'Veer Savarkar Manch' distributed 500 notebooks having Savarkar's photo and biography on the cover to the students of class 9 and 10 in the school with the Principal's permission.

Principal R.N Kerawat who has received an award from President Ram Nath Kovind said he is 'stunned' by what has happened, NDTV reported.

After the NGO circulated images of it on social media, a complaint was lodged by the IT cell of Congress with the Ratlam collector, Ruchika Chauhan.

The action was initiated against the principal after the District education officer K.C.Sharma looked into the matter and said that the event where the notebooks were distributed was organized without permission from the Department of School Education.

He said, "This amounted to a violation of established norms under the MP Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1966, particularly Rule 3 of the 1966 rules. A report recommending action against school principal RN Kerawat was sent by my office to the district collector, which was forwarded for further action to the Ujjain Divisional Commissioner. The divisional commissioner, acting on the report, ordered the immediate suspension of the school principal."

The suspension order was received by Kerawat on January 13, "I was stunned to find out about that. I don't know what wrong I did by allowing the distribution of notebooks among students purely in their interests without the permission of higher-ups. I later came to know that the notebooks bore Savarkar's photograph and life story but I didn't think it would influence students of Class 9 and 10," NDTV quoted him.

This incident led to a war of words amongst the two parties - Congress and BJP, where the saffron party accused CM Kamal Nath of playing 'petty politics.'

On the other hand, Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja said that the suspension has nothing to do with politics, but is only a matter of 'discipline.'

Former MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to twitter where he expressed his discontentment with the incident.

Also Read: Congress Removes 'Veer' From Savarkar's Name In Rajasthan Board Textbooks, Third Revision In Eight Years