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Demand to cancel transfer of Central School Principal

Special Correspondent

Protests in front of KVS office in Jaipur

JAIPUR: Activist groups have condemned the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) authorities' decision to transfer the Principal of the Central School at Nazirabad in Ajmer district of Rajasthan to Punjab in the wake of her initiative in unearthing sexual exploitation of school children. The groups held a demonstration in front of the office of the Assistant Commissioner of KVS here earlier this week demanding cancellation of the transfer which they said violated Supreme Court directive in the Vishaka case.

As Principal of the Central School in the Army cantonment area in Nazirabad, Vijay Lakshmi Nagar had taken the initiative last December to register a complaint at the local police station against alleged sexual abuse of three girl students of the school. The alleged culprits included the son of a major in the Army, besides local persons. Ms. Nagar had initiated action after taking into confidence Brigadier B.K. Goswami, Commander of the Nazirabad defence station.

The activist groups, which include Rajasthan PUCL, Rajasthan University Women's Association, All India Democratic Women's Association, National Federation of Indian Women and Women's Rehabilitation Group, in a memorandum to the KVS Commissioner said that instead of appreciating the bold act of Ms. Nagar, the organisation was punishing her by transferring her to a school in Punjab, located in far-flung Nangal Moor.

"It is unfortunate that the authorities are overlooking the potential danger of such situations even after instance of large-scale child abuse in Nithari," said Pawan Surana, former chairperson of the Rajasthan Women's Commission, who led the protest. The committee set up by the KVS in its Jaipur office to stop harassment of women at workplace as per the Supreme Court directive in 1997 in the Vishaka &Others versus State of Rajasthan and others did not do justice to Ms. Nagar, she charged.

The activist groups pointed out that the chairperson of the KVS Jaipur committee, Devsena, who visited Nazirabad on February 19 after the story of sexual exploitation of children broke out, did not inform Kanchan Mathur, the non-government member of the committee, about the enquiry she was holding. The women's groups, which are trying to take up the issue with Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh, have sent a memorandum to him as well. They have demanded removal of Ms. Devsena as the chairperson of the committee.

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