As the Kamal Nath led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh continues to face lots of heat over unfulfilled poll promises, not just from opposition parties but also from senior leaders of the Congress party, an old tweet by CM Kamal Nath has come back to haunt him.
On Wednesday, it was reported that a guest lecturer of a college in Bhopal got her head tonsured as a protest against the state government. A woman named Shahin had shaved her head as a protest as the government has not agreed to their demands of regularisation of jobs. Shanin said, “we have been protesting for the last 72 days. The state government has no mercy for teachers. Chief Minister Kamal Nath is behaving like a dictator.” She said that if the state govt does not agree to their demands, then all the women sitting in the protest will tonsure their heads.
The guest lecturers are demanding regularisation of their jobs, which was promised by the Congress party before the assembly elections. Another protestor Ruchi Tiwari told ANI, “Did we elect the Congress for this day? He calls us sisters. Still, he is not paying a visit to us.”
Reacting to the news, former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan tweeted addresing CM Kamal Nath, ‘CM sir, even today the hair is a symbol of women. Guest lecturer sisters have sacrificed their hair to wake up your sleeping government. Did the state felt ashamed today in your view? Will you take any step for their welfare?
मुख्यमंत्री जी, आज भी केश नारी के सम्मान का प्रतीक हैं।
अतिथि विद्वान बहनों ने आपकी सोती हुई सरकार को नींद से जगाने के लिए अपने केश त्यागे, क्या आज आपको उनकी पीड़ा का अंदाज़ा है?
क्या आपकी नज़र में आज प्रदेश शर्मसार हुआ?
क्या उनकी भलाई के लिए आप कोई कदम उठाएंगे? #MP_मांगे_जवाब https://t.co/Ev4xUlphVj
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) February 19, 2020
With the tweet, Shivraj Singh Chauhan added a two-years-old tweet by CM Kamal Nath, when he had slammed the BJP government for the exact same reason. On February 12, 2018, Kamal Nath had posted the tweet, reacting to news about guest lecturers shaving their heads demanding regularisation of their jobs. On a day before, several guest lecturers, including four women, had got their head tonsured as a mark to protest against then BJP govt’s inability to fulfil their demands.
Kamal Nath had tweeted, ‘hair is a symbol of beauty and respect women and if a woman sacrifices it for the fight for her rights, then the level of her misery and suffering can be estimated. Tonsuring, done by guest sisters, is a shocking step. The entire state is ashamed of this incident.’
केश नारी के लिये श्रृंगार व सम्मान का प्रतीक होते है और नारी यदि अपने हक़ की लड़ाई के लिये उसका ही त्याग कर दे तो उसके दुःख व पीड़ा का अन्दाज़ लगाया जा सकता है….
अतिथि विद्वान बहनो द्वारा कराया गया मुंडन,दिल को झकझोरने वाला क़दम है…
पूरा प्रदेश इस घटना से शर्मशार हुआ है.. pic.twitter.com/SJjWGxcszT— Office Of Kamal Nath (@OfficeOfKNath) February 12, 2018
In the election manifesto for the assembly elections in 2018, the Congress party had promised to regularise the jobs of temporary teachers. But like many promises, the Kamal Nath government failed to fulfil this promise also, which had prompted the contact teachers to resume their protests.
In November last year, the state government appointed 3,418 permanent faculty members in government colleges, which had the position of 2,300 guest employees, including assistant professors, librarians and sports officers, uncertain who faced the risk of removal from their jobs. Although the govt had promised the temporary jobs in other places, they are demanding permanent postings, as promised by the party before elections. The teachers are reminding the government about Section 17.22 of the Congress manifesto, which had said, “We will create a policy to regularise guest faculty members according to the roster. In case they are not selected by the MPPSC, they will not be removed.”
In the last week, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia had reached the protest site and had said that he will stand as their “sword and shield” if promises made by the Congress party in its poll manifesto were not fulfilled by the government. He had assured the protesters that their demand is included in the party’s manifesto and they will be implemented. He had even said that he will hit the streets if the demand is not realised. But CM Kamal Nath had snubbed Scindia, saying let him hit the streets. He had also added that the manifesto is for five years term of the government which had not completed yet.
