Rohtak: 5 MDU teachers on poll duty suspended for canvassing
Sunit Dhawan
Rohtak, May 23
Five faculty members of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak have been booked and suspended for political canvassing despite being assigned election duties as presiding officers and reserve staff.
An FIR has been registered under Section 129 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, against MDU teachers Dr Pardeep Gahlot, Dr Surender Singh and Dr Raj Kumar, all assistant professors at the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Dr Surender Singh, Associate Professor, department of botany and Dr Mahesh Kumar, Associate Professor, department of pharmaceutical sciences, on the basis of a complaint lodged on behalf of the District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Rohtak.
In a communique sent to the District Election Officer today, the MDU administration has maintained that the aforesaid faculty members have been suspended.
The university administration further said that show-cause notices had been issued to five other faculty members, including Dr Vikas Siwach, Dr Rajesh (both associate professors at UIET), Sandeep Malik, Assistant Professor, UIET, Dr Suresh Malik, Professor, department of statistics and Dr Randeep Rana, Professor, department of English.
Dr Vikas Siwach is also the president of the MDU Teachers Association as well as the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers Organisations (HFUCTO).
A complaint regarding the alleged involvement of these faculty members was made to the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, Rohtak Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer, MDU Vice-Chancellor and Registrar.
The complainant, Advocate Jitender Attri, had alleged that the said faculty members were openly violating the poll code by campaigning for Congress candidate Deepender Hooda.
School principal suspended
The Department of School Education, Haryana, has suspended Shri Bhagwan, Principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Ritauli, following a complaint made to the Election Commission of India regarding his alleged involvement in political canvassing during his duty hours on working days, which amounted to violation of the model code of conduct.