New Delhi, January 29
All guest teachers working in Delhi government schools who have been sitting on dharna for more than 20 days, demanding permanent jobs, were today warned by the government to resume their duty or face expulsion.

Education Minister Manish Sisodia said that if the teachers do not report to duty, the government will be left with no other option than to expel them.

"The teachers have been asked to get back to their jobs as it is the peak time of studies in schools, else we will not be in a position to retain them," said Sisodia, adding that no action can take place till the committee gives its report.

A five-member committee headed by Chief Secretary SK Shirvastav has been constituted by the government to resolve the issue of temporary, contractual and casual employees in all the departments, offices and autonomous bodies under its control. The committee will submit its report in one month.

Despite the government declaring that no guest teacher will be removed till the report is submitted, the agitating guest teachers said that they are not ready to give up their dharna since they want a 'written assurance' from the Chief Minister.

There are around 10,200 guest teachers working in various government schools.

Labour Minister Girish Soni said that the government will recruit permanent employees on the basis of the 'nature of job' and priorities will be set for the selection of candidates, which might leave out some of the contractual employees. "We have asked the department to compile data on the contractual employees who are working in the government, their qualifications, experience, etc. Staff to be recruited on permanent basis have to be qualified and experienced till a certain level unlike in the case of contractual employees," Soni said.

"The nature of job will play an important role in recruiting permanent staff. For example, hospitals cannot run without nurses. So, they should be taken on permanent basis," he said. Soni said that the government might stop issuing a licence to the contractors who recruit contractual employees which will automatically lead to the recruitment of permanent staff.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government proposed to replace the Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women, Barkha Singh, with eminent Hindi writer Maitreyi Pushpa, saying that bodies and committee outside the purview of Delhi government should be headed by 'non-political' persons.

New Delhi, January 29
The BJP MLAs today marched from Delhi Secretariat to the Lieutenant Governor's house and submitted a memorandum, demanding dismissal of Law Minister Somnath Bharti. The delegation was led by Dr Harsh Vardhan, leader of the opposition in Delhi Assembly.

The memorandum said despite having taken an oath of secrecy, the minister has violated the norms of the Constitution and the government.

Instead of taking strict action against him, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers are trying to protect him. Just to save Bharti, Kejriwal even sat on an illegal dharna in front of the Rail Bhawan on January 20, according to the memorandum.

The Delhi Women's Commission had twice issued notices to Bharti for his disgraceful action towards the women. Bharti was required to present himself in front of the commission, but instead of obeying the orders, he was busy inaugurating a kite festival, said Vardhan.

In view of these facts, we have approached the Lieutenant Governor so that the Constitution and the law of the land should be protected,he said while submitting the memorandum.

New Delhi, January 29
The Delhi police suspects the involvement of gangs based in Haryana and the national Capital in the Rs 7.69-crore heist that took place on a crowded road in South Delhi on Tuesday morning.

Teams of Delhi Police's Crime Branch, Special Cell and the south-east district police have been raiding the hideouts of criminals in Western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, according to sources. The robbers are yet to be arrested.

Investigators suspect the role of a gang based in Haryana and another gang based in South Delhi. The police conducted raids at several places in Haryana's Jhajjar and Rohtak districts last night.

Although senior police officers remained tight-lipped, sources said that several people have been questioned in connection with the case, including two criminals lodged in Tihar Jail. The identity of the prisoners has not been disclosed due to security reasons.

Investigators said that Rakesh Kumar who was present in the Honda City car in which the money was kept and which was robbed yesterday, had employed some people and expelled them within a few months. The police are trying to search for these people to question them in connection with the case.

Based on the descriptions provided by the informers of the police, four sketches of the suspects have been circulated among the teams of the police.

According to the police, Rakesh Kumar, a manager of the Gurgaon-based businessman, Rahul Ahuja, was travelling with Rs 7.69 crore in a Honda City car on Tuesday morning. Rakesh was with three other men, Subodh, Rajesh and Baijnath in the car and they were heading towards Karol Bagh to deposit the money in two banks.

At the BRT corridor near the Lajpat Nagar Metro station, a Wagon-R car overtook their car and suddenly braked. The Honda City rammed into the rear of the Wagon-R. An argument ensued between the occupants of the Honda City and the single occupant of the Wagon-R. Meanwhile, armed men came out of a Verna car that was trailing the Honda City. They got into the Honda City, leaving Rahul's four employees behind and fleeing with the money. 

New Delhi, January 29
A two-day orientation programme for the Members of Legislative Assembly will be organised on January 30 and 31 at Delhi Vidhan Sabha. The programme is meant to train them in the House procedures and rules.

"The need for the orientation programme was felt necessary as 48 out of the total 70 MLAs are first-timers and are not well versed with the House procedures and the rules," said Speaker Maninder Singh Dhir.

"We felt that we should organise an orientation programme for them to equip them with the basic information/knowledge about the functioning of the Legislative Assembly and I am sure that it will prove beneficial to them," he said.

The training will familiarize them with the procedures like raising of questions or raising of issues relating to the problems of their constituency, etc.

The programme is being organized jointly by the Delhi Legislative Assembly Secretariat and Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST), Lok Sabha Secretariat. Experts will speak on various topics like etiquette, conventions and traditions of the House, parliamentary privileges, legislative process, questions and zero hour, administrative structure in Delhi and the history of Assembly building.