Cong MLAs stage walkout in Assembly over teacher transfer policy

The opposition Congress today staged a walkout in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly over the teacher transfer policy and the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

The Congress accused the BJP government in the state of backing out on its promise of rolling back RUSA.

However, the Congress members returned to the House after a few minutes.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the reply of Education Minister Suresh Bharadwaj over the transfer policy for teachers, the Congress MLAs sought explanation from the government.

The education minister said that framing of a transfer policy was under consideration and that the government was studying the policies framed by Karnataka and some other states.

On RUSA, he said, "We never promised rollback of RUSA and only said that the shortcomings in the implementation of RUSA would be removed.

Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri said the BJP fooled the students on RUSA and was now backing out.

Soon, the opposition MLAs staged a walkout.

The education minister said that due to discrimination in transfers, many employees were seeking justice from tribunals and courts. This underlined the need for a new transfer policy, he said.