Teachers can stop Nirbhaya-like incidents: Katheria

Union Minister Ram Shankar Katheria today said only teachers, not police force, can Nirbhaya-like incidents in the country.
"There was a Nirbhaya incident. To ensure that there is no such incident in the country, then only teachers can stop such incidents. No police force can stop such incidents. Only country's teachers have that power," Katheria said during a function here to give national award to teachers for 2014.
'Nirbhaya' is a name given to a 23-year-old paramedical student, who was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in the national capital in December 2012. She died while battling her injuries during treatment in a Singapore hospital.

Katheria, Minister of State for Human Resources Development, is a Lok Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh's Agra constituency.
"I come from Agra. While coming from there, I see big buildings in Noida, 20- or 30-storied buildings. They are not the parameter of development, but the students. As some learned persons have said, students are the real capital of a nation and teachers need to utilise this capital to make our country more powerful and developed nation," he said.
The minister said there was a need to improve elementary education in the country.
A total of 338 teachers from across the country received the honour, which carries a Silver medal, certificate and Rs 50,000 as award money, from President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held at Vigyan Bhawan here.

Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Minister of State for HRD Upendra Kushwaha, among others were present during the event.