Standing up to the state

IT is a tough journey along the potholed road to Dankaur in western Uttar Pradesh. The road that leads to some of the biggest agricultural villages in the State is in dire need of attention, but it is the proposed eight-lane expressway nearby, which aims to reduce the travel time from the national capital of New Delhi to the historical town of Agra, that gets it. They stand to lose their cultivable land for this road.

The Yamuna Expressway, as it is called, has been caught in controversies ever since it was planned in 2007. Several opposition parties had raised doubts about the number of villages it would displace. But the actual figures emerged only after the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government used its emergency powers to acquire land from Greater Noida to Agra.

To some people, this betrayed an unseemly hurry by the State government to act on behalf of a private company, JP Infratech Ltd, which has landed the contract for the construction of the expressway and the right to collect toll on it for 36 years. Evidently, the initial uproar in political circles translated into large-scale agitation among farmers who were to lose most of the cultivable land to the ambitious project. Adding fuel to the fire, the State government went ahead with another series of land acquisition for a hi-tech city comprising industrial parks, residential colonies, shopping malls, schools and hospitals to be built around the expressway.

The farmers' movement against the project in this 165-kilometre stretch gathered steam, and in a few places turned violent, following the announcement of the hi-tech city. While mostly small farmers lost their land in the expressway project, it was big farmers who were affected by the hi-tech city. As a result, the Jats and Thakurs, big farmers of the area, took the mantle of leadership against the project. The Jatavs and Dalits, who worked as agricultural labourers in these fields, gave them their full support.

The Rs.9,500-crore expressway project will need 43,000 hectares of land. As many as 1,191 villages have been notified for the project. The hi-tech city is expected to affect nearly seven lakh people and 334 villages in six districts – Noida, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura, Agra and Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras). The average land holding in this area is two to four hectares.

Mahendra Singh, a Jat farmer in Motena village of Greater Noida, brings out the irony well: “The government is building all this in the name of infrastructure development. The village roads have not been repaired for the past five years. To sell our crops or to do any kind of business we have to spend a whole day to commute just 20 kilometres. The expressway is for the people of the city who already have a highway to Agra. And here we are about to lose all our lands. These were double-crop lands and among the largest producers of wheat and paddy in the State. The government is offering us a measly sum. But we do not want compensation. We were self-sufficient and we want the government to ensure us a proper livelihood.”

The government has no comprehensive policy of compensation and randomly decides the land prices. Until 2008, the farmers got anything between Rs.250 and Rs.400 a square metre. In 2008, Ghori Bachera, a Rajput-dominated village in Greater Noida, stood up in protest, and following this the government doubled the price. Farmers in Mathura and Agra followed suit and got themselves a better deal.

But it was a violent protest in Tappal village in Aligarh district in 2010 that catapulted the farmers' struggle in Uttar Pradesh into a political issue. Following this, the State government was compelled to frame a profit-sharing model with the farmers, but the policy is yet to see the light of day. Thereafter, Bhatta and Parsaul villages in Greater Noida saw another violent protest, which became a huge political issue (“Fight for land”, Frontline, June 3, 2011).

The Ganga Expressway

Similar is the case of the Ganga Expressway, a public-private partnership project with JP Infratech. This highway seeks to link Greater Noida in western Uttar Pradesh and Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh, a stretch of 1,047 km. To be built at an estimated cost of Rs.40,000 crore, it requires more than 10,000 ha and will displace more than 5,000 villages. But the project is on hold as it has not got environment clearance because of opposition from environment groups and farmers across the State.

Just as the Yamuna Expressway, this project too is expected to have a hi-tech city. The government's economic logic of expressway-driven projects is primarily infrastructure development, an area in which Uttar Pradesh has been lagging behind many other northern States despite it being the largest in terms of area. However, there is no comprehensive plan of rehabilitation and resettlement in the State.

“Because there is no comprehensive plan and because farmers of each area are getting different treatment in terms of prices, they are encouraged to feel that only if they protest, non-violently or violently, will the government give them a better package,” says Sudhir Panwar of the Kisan Jagriti Manch. Howsoever better it may sound, this is much less than the market prices.

The State government has used the controversial “public interest” clause in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for acquiring land. But “public interest” in Uttar Pradesh seems in no way close to people's interests. For example, the government offered Rs.880 a square metre following the protest in Tappal, which is close to Delhi and Noida, where the market rate was over Rs.25,000 a square metre.

Similar land struggles are on in Mirzapur, where the JP group has planned a cement factory. Anger is also rising in Sonabhadra district, where a power plant is coming up, and in Kushinagar, where Chief Minister Mayawati has plans to make a Buddha Circuit airport. The previous Samajwadi Party government had also met with resistance when it acquired land to build four prisons, in Shahjahanpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur and Moradabad.

In such a context, the courts have come to the rescue of the farmers. In a major embarrassment to the Mayawati government, the Allahabad High Court struck down in May notifications issued for the acquisition of more than 100 ha of land in Gautam Buddha Nagar district for “planned industrial development” in Greater Noida. While allowing a bunch of writ petitions filed by the residents of Shahberi village in the district, the court remarked that “the entire action of acquiring the land was a colourable exercise of powers”.

“The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority [GNIDA] was fully aware and was planning to use the land in village Shahberi and neighbouring villages for multi-storey housing complexes to be developed by builders on relaxed conditions… on the one hand, a request was made for acquiring the land for public purpose for planned industrial development and on the other hand, a few days before the proposals were put up before the State government for issuing notification (dated 9.11.2009)... the GNIDA, without informing the State government, held the Board's meeting for converting the land use for residential purposes to lease off the land to builders for housing complexes for earning profits,” the court noted.

It further said: “The land is proposed to be acquired at the rate of about Rs.850 per square metre and to be given, within a month, to the builders at Rs.10,000 per square metre and that too on payment of 5 per cent of the price, on allotment.” The court asked the GNIDA to hand the acquired land back to the farmers and allowed the oustees to file cases against the Authority.

In another judgment in January, the Supreme Court quashed the land acquisition made by the previous Samajwadi Party government to construct prisons and asked the present government to return the land to the original owners.

The widespread farmers' agitation has forced the Uttar Pradesh government to disallow further use of emergency powers in land acquisition for these projects. However, as the movement is spreading to different parts of the State, it remains to be seen how the government will solve the conflict between the State's infrastructure development plans and the aspirations of the farming community, which has got the full support of Dalits, who form Mayawati's core support base.

HARYANA
T.K. Rajalakshmi in Rohtak

IN the aftermath of the agitation by farmers in Bhatta and Parsaul villages in Greater Noida, the Haryana government's land acquisition policy was hailed as the best in the country. The policy envisages a revision of minimum floor rates of land as notified in April 2007 by the government; introduction of a “no-litigation incentive” for landowners who opted to accept the compensation award; and a revision of the basic rates of annuity coupled with an annual increase “to make it more meaningful as a means of social security for the landowners”. It recognises two broad categories of infrastructure projects for acquisition of land and addresses the concerns of landless persons and artisans in a village community whose livelihoods depend on agricultural operations. The policy also includes “making arrangements for professional advice to landowners for prudent investment of the compensation amount with various options”.

The policy, introduced in November 2010, lays down floor rates in different parts of the State for acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act. This has been praised as giving the best deal to farmers. But there is a simmering discontent among farmers, which is visible in several parts of the State

Bangalore based Mindlance India opens its sixth facility

indlance, a New Jersey, US-based IT infrastructure service provider, with its India Headquarters at Bangalore, has announced the setting up of a new facility at Kolkata, as a part of its ongoing expansion in India. The new Kolkata facility would be a delivery & sales center for the Eastern Zone and would primarily cater to customers in West Bengal, Assam, Orissa & Bihar.

 located at Bangalore (2 offices), Gurgaon Jaipur, and Mumbai. Mindlance with its rich global expertise will be keenly interested to help set up other IT enterprises in East India in the near future. Mindlance would also introduce the latest technologies like Managed services, IT consulting, Datacenter management, Cloud computing, IT Security and RIMS to the firms in West Bengal. We are hoping that this partnership brings a lot of positivity to the IT progress of the state.

Announcing the new facility, Kamal Sharma, Group CIO, Mindlance said, “We are extremely pleased to announce the opening of our 6th new facility in Kolkata, which is strategically placed to target one of the core focus geographies in the domestic market. This facility would help us cater to our highly demanding and ever increasing customer base in the Eastern region, especially in the IT, Education and Health Care sectors. Kolkata on account of its heavily networked communities possess high awareness and literacy levels, superior telecom connectivity, and a propensity for quick technology absorption, Mindlance would most definitely be looking forward to invest in big numbers in the state”.

“According to Nasscom, the employability of people having IT skills in West Bengal is 40-45 per cent, way above the national average of 25 per cent. The attrition rate of 10 per cent in West Bengal is the lowest among the metro cities making is a favorable employment destination. With over more than a decade of experience in implementing IT, Mindlance has become a very trusted Tier two System Integrator”, added Kamal Sharma.

Mindlance had achieved a remarkable and applaudable number of over 100 clients in India within a short span of 8 months. The company plans to grow exponentially further this year too & would be inaugurating over 5 new offices across various locations in India.

About Mindlance
Mindlance is a global IT Infrastructure provider based in New Jersey, started in year 1999 by Vikram Kalra. Mindlance manages, optimizes and automates IT operation for its over 200 Fortune 1000 clients spread across the globe. Mindlance believes in becoming technology partners with its clients in terms of providing them most out of their existing IT Infrastructure by delivering the solutions which are focused on reducing operational costs and maximizing the availability and performance of their IT Infrastructure. Mindlance offers both traditional At-Site Delivery Model as well as futuristic Remote Infrastructure Management Model to deliver the offered services.

Mindlance in India is headquartered at Bangalore and has regional office at more than 5 locations spread across the country. Mindlance clientele includes one of Japan’s largest automobile manufacturers, two of the top five global banks, ten of the top twenty pharmaceutical manufacturers, a leading global semiconductor manufacturer, and a leading global mobile software company.

Mindlance has also been awarded with the prestigious Deloitte Fast 50 Award for 3 Consecutive Years along with the renowned Leading performer (High growth in SMBs category) in Karnataka STPI IT Exports Awards.

Orissa IT minister sails through with first division

Information technology and fisheries minister  who had failed to clear the Plus-II science examination in 1995, passed the Plus-II arts examination this year with flying colours this year. Majhi secured around 63 per cent marks, an improvement over his matriculation in 1993 when he had got a second division. 

"I had done well in the examination and was hoping for a first division," the minister said, attributing the good result to his own hard work and determination. "I was studying for over three hours daily," the minister added. 

"It was a moment of joy for all in the family. I called my wife, who is in Nabarangpur, to break the news. She was elated," the minister said as he celebrated his success by distributing sweets among friends and well-wishers here. 

The minister, who appeared in the higher secondary examination at the Panabeda College in his home district of Nabarangpur as a private candidate, said: "I was under tremendous scrutiny as an examinee because of being a minister. The observation squads were coming to the examination centre frequently." 

The Jharigam MLA, who had opted for history, political science and economics as his core subjects, secured 376 out of 600 marks. 

Majhi was allotted a separate room for the examination held in March. "My presence in a common examination hall could have intimidated other candidates. Besides, I was sick during that time," he said. 

The two-time MLA who was initially hesitant for sitting in the examination fearing people's reaction has now decided to complete his graduation. "After becoming a minister, I have been seriously thinking of becoming at least a graduate. The first hurdle has been cleared. I will join in graduation. If I complete my graduation then undoubtedly I will go for a law degree," said the minister, whose father was a post-graduate and wife is a graduate. 

"I will decide on a college and subjects for graduation soon. I will keep political science as a core subject," he said. "I believe there is no age-limit for study. Anyone can study at anytime and I am very young," he said. 

After his matriculation from a Bhubaneswar school, Majhi joined Plus-II science in Biju Patnaik College in Bhubaneswar, but could not clear the examination in 1995. He joined politics in 1997 when he was 19 years old and was elected panchayat samiti member of Dhodipani gram panchayat under . He had represented Dabugam constituency from 2004 to 2009. 

"I have a long career in politics ahead and education will surely strengthen my political career," said Majhi, whose late father was a minister in the state.

Right to Education Act 2009 doomed to failure- Why?

The Right to Education Act, properly speaking Right of Children to Fee and Compulsory Education 2009 is doomed to failure, not because some eminent educationists like Dr.Anil Sadgopal predicted so since its inception, but because various state actors supposed to be its prime movers have by and large abdicated their responsibility to operationalise it in their respective domains. As is well known, no Act can be implemented without being followed by the necessary Rules made by the appropriate Government to give effect to the provisions of the Act. Though the Act was declared by a notification dated 19 Feb 2010 to be enforced w.e.f. 1st April 2010, no Rules Central or State level was found in place on that crucial day. The Central Rules was notified on 9th April 2010, while as per the official release made at the end of the first year of the Act, as of 1st April 2011 only 9 out of 29 States (such as Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Orissa, Rajasthan and Sikkim) notified their Rules and only 2 out of 6 UTs (namely, A & N Islands and Chandigarh) adopted the Central Rules. Thus, legally speaking the Act is non-existent in more than two thirds of India’s States/UTs.
Another glaring instance which puts the RTE Act on the spot in a statutory sense is the absence of a State Commission for Protection of Child Rights as of now in all but 11 States namely Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Orissa, Rajasthan and Sikkim, again less than a third of India. As per Sections 31 and 32 of RTE Act such a Commission ought to act as the apex level monitoring and grievance redressal authority in respect of RTE implementation in a State. Even where such a Commission is functioning, be it at national level or in a state, it is too poorly staffed and financed by their respective Governments to undertake even a hundredth fraction of its grandiose job profile envisaged under the RTE Act.
Following the circulation of model State Rules by the Centre in February 2010, a hope had been aroused among knowledgeable circles that thanks to RTE Act, we would have at least one primary school within 1 km and one upper primary school within 3 km of each neighborhood all over country. For instance, the Rule 6 of Orissa Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010 notified on 27.9.2010 mandated the State Government and as well local authorities to set up such schools so as to fulfill the prime goal of the Act enshrined in its Section 3(1) which reads, “Every child of the age of six to fourteen years shall have a right to free and compulsory education in a neighborhood school till completion of elementary education”. But ironically enough, the selfsame Government of Orissa only after a few months, to be exact 3 months and 20 days, effected an amendment to State RTE Rules on 17 January 2011, which inter alia stated, “….where no school exists within the area or limits of neighborhood …. the Government/ local authority shall make arrangements, such as free transportation, escort facilities and residential facilities, for providing Elemental Education in a school, in relaxation of the area or limits specified in the said rule”. It implied that the State Government without having to set up neighborhood schools where they din’t exist, could manage with such cheaper and ad hoc alternatives as transport and escort facilities etc. Thus, a single administrative fiat of the State Government could practically abrogate its obligation to ensure the availability of neighborhood schools as guaranteed under the RTE Act and State Rules made there under.  
The Schedule appended to the RTE Act captioned as ‘Norms and Standards of a School’ had inter alia prescribed 1:30 and 1:35 teacher-pupil ratio for primary and upper primary schools respectively. Section 25 (1) of the Act had categorically mandated, “Within six months from the date of commencement of this Act, the appropriate Government and the local authority shall ensure that the Pupil-Teacher Ratio, as specified in the Schedule, is maintained in each school”. As a matter of fact, such provisions had greatly kindled the hope that the new Act by ensuring the compliance to the prescribed TPR would at once put a befitting end to the chronic malaise of teacher deficit that has ever since plagued our primary education. However, as irony would have it again, the Central Government issued a guideline on 22nd June 2010, that virtually nullified the above mentioned statutory commitment in respect of TPR. The said guideline suggested to the concerned States inter alia to “rationalize the deployment of existing teachers to address the problems of urban-rural and other spatial imbalances in teacher placements”, which in other words meant unscrupulously abandoning the mandatory PTR as provided under the Act. 
Another debilitating measure that has afflicted the implementation of RTE Act has been the poor budgetary provision by the Centre itself. As per the revised estimates drawn up by Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) of Ministry of Finance on 28 July 2010 after factoring in teachers' salaries under the existing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan pattern had put the total cost for next five years at a staggering amount of Rs 231,000 crore. Of this, Rs 24,000 crore would come through the Finance Commission's allocation to state governments. The remaining Rs 207,000 crore is to be shared by the Centre and the states based on a 65:35 formula. Leaving aside the lingering plea of most state governments struggling with ballooning budget deficits, for a larger Central share to the extent of 90% of the total, the Central share at 65:35 formula comes around to Rs.34,000 crore for the year 2011-12. But the Ministry of Finance in the annual budget passed in Feb last allocated only Rs.21,000 crore to composite Sarva Siksha Abhijan-cum-RTE programme, making for as much as Rs.13,000 crore short of the required amount estimated by its own Committee. Under the circumstances, the moot question arises, how the Centre which is itself starved of funds to meet its estimated share can mobilize the States to enforce the RTE Act in their respective domains?
Above all, the RTE Act 2009 is in conflict with another well known law of the land i.e. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986. Contrary to the popular notion, this Act in its Section 7 allows an employer to engage a child in 6 hours of wage-labour in day-time with an hour kept for rest in between, albeit in non-hazardous occupations. Thus, while one law categorically allows a child to spend 6+1 hours of a day as wage-labour, how can another law obligate the State to ensure the attendance of such child in a neighborhood school to receive free and compulsory education? Even the duty of the parents added to the list of Fundamental Duties under Article 51A of the Constitution as per 86th Amendment 2002 i.e. ‘to provide opportunities for education to his child’ seems to be bereft of any substance in view of the prevailing child labour law which woefully legitimizes the child labour.   
It may be recollected that unlike some recently enacted laws like Right to Information Act 2005 or Forest Rights Act 2006 which came about as culmination of prolonged, country-wide advocacy campaigns by the civil society, the drafting process for RTE Act 2009 was virtually a monopoly of the bureaucratic class, who had also their cunning hand behind the insertion of a peculiarly worded Article 21-A in the Fundamental Rights chapter of the Constitution as a sequel to the 86th Amendment 2002. The said Article, which has been hailed by some as a radical dispensation for the simple reason that it made elementary education a fundamental right of every child, runs however as follows: “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.” Read carefully, does it sound a right at all, let alone a fundamental right? The qualifying provision in the Article that allows the manner of imparting education to be determined by the State virtually dilutes, nay negatives the right of a child to receive any quality education whatsoever. As a matter of fact, using the rationale of the above referred Article 21-A both Centre and States have already brought about some dilutive and dilatory measures, as already discussed, to denude the RTE Act of its grandiloquent promises. Thus the villain of piece obstructing the materialization of the free and compulsory education in a real sense seems to be securely saddled in the absolute discretion bestowed  to the State in the so-called revolutionary Article 21-A of the Constitution.

Orissa hands off MDM implementation to mass education dept

In a major policy shift, the Orissa government on Tuesday took away the responsibility of implementation of mid-day meal (MDM) programme from the women and child development ministry and placed it under the school and mass education department. 

The shifting of responsibility comes in the wake of raging controversy over alleged irregularities in procurement of dal by the women and child development department and this move by the Naveen Patnaik government is seen more as damage control exercise than to really help the beneficiaries. 

Coming under severe criticism from the Opposition on alleged graft of MDM funds, the Orissa government has ordered a vigilance probe. 

"The managerial responsibility of the MDM programme will now be handled by the school and mass education department ," school and mass education minister Pratap Jena said after a high level meeting chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik here. 

Emphasising on better supervision and functioning of the programme, the minister said that special officers would be appointed to supervise the whole procedure. 

"It was decided in the meeting to appoint special officers to look into the whole managerial process. Self-help groups and school management along with head master of the concerned school will be responsible for procuring food items and serving cooked food to students," Mr Jena added. 

It was also decided in the meeting that different food items would be served to students on six different days of a weak to ensure quality and good attendance," the minister said. 

The minister informed that from the current academic session each girl student studying in Class X will be given Rs 2,600 for buying bicycle. Besides, boys in tribal sub-plan will also be given similar monetary assistance for bicycles. The money will be deposited in the personal accounts of the students, he added. 

The meeting, taking note of the discontentment of parents over delay in supply of text books in the last academic year, resolved not to repeat the mistake and ensure that the study materials reached schools much before the new session began. 

"We have already started sending books to schools. Class seven students in each block across the state have received the books while others will get them (books) after the summer vacation," the minister said.

Girls rule the roost in Orissa annual Plus Two exams

Tanmay Kumar Patra of Upendra Nath College, Soro, notched up the first spot in the top 20 merit list in Science stream securing an aggregate of 555 marks in the annual Plus Two examinations-2011, results of which were declared by the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) here on Monday.
While Nayana Baral of SCS Junior College, Puri topped in the Arts stream securing 522 marks and Minish Agrawala of MPC Junior College, Baripada topped in Commerce stream with 537 marks.
Chinmayee Mohant of Jhumpura Government Vocational Junior College topped in Vocational stream securing aggregate 566 marks.
Barring the Arts stream where the boys overtook the girls in the top 20 ranking, the girl students outshone the boys in the top twenty in Commerce and Vocational streams.
As many as 26 girl students are in the bracketed 30 students in the 20 merit list in Arts, in Commerce, 25 and 23 girl's students in vocational stream were topper from among the each of the 38 top 20 list.
The results of the examinations were released by higher education minister Badri Narayan Patra at the head office here at 10 am.
The results were also simultaneously declared in three other zonal offices at Baripada, Berhampur, Sambalpur and at the Ravensaw Junior College at Cuttack.
The examination was held in March and April, 2011 and the results were published in a record time of 42 days.
This time also girls outshone boys in all the streams.
While 74.03 per cent girls came out successful in Science stream against 73.18 per cent of boys, 71 .77 per cent girls passed in Arts against 64.27 percent boys and 77.53 per cent girls passed against the 65.23 per cent of boys in Commerce stream.
This year the state average in the pass rate is 69.10 per cent in Science, Arts and Commerce.
With 171,118 students came out successful from among the 246,153 candidates appeared the examination.
While 41,359 students in Science passed out of the total 56,280 appeared, 12,773 students passed with first division, 15,566 in second division and 12,016 in 3rd Division.
Dhenkanal district recorded the highest pass percentage of 84.93 percent, lowest percentage of 47.82 per cent students passed in Boudh district in the science stream.
In Arts stream while 159,866 students appeared the examination, 109,230 students came out successful.
As many as 11,183 students passed in first division while 34,446 in second division and 60,826 in third division.
In Arts stream, Malkangiri earned the distinction of being the no-1 district as far as highest pass rate is concerned.
The pass rate of the district in Arts is 89.68 per cent while Rayagada recorded the lowest pass percentage of 52.44 per cent.
Similarly in Commerce stream 15, 553 students passed from the 22,760 candidates appearing the examination with 3,577 passed in first division, 3,961 in second division and 7,817 in third division.
In Vocational stream, 4,481 candidates out of 6,356 passed with 1,609 in first division, 2,400 in second division and 682 in third division.

Teachers on foreign leave get ‘poll benefit’

A year after Punjab education department decided to get tough on teachers who are on ex-India leave and started proceedings for terminating the services of 100 such staffers who have overstayed their leave without permission, the department has once again backed down. The obvious reason for this rethink is apparently the assembly polls next year. 

One year back, the education department had made it compulsory for a teacher, wanting ex-India leave, to submit an affidavit saying he/she would be deemed to have resign if he/she doesn't join back by a specified date. The reason for this was that many teachers did not return to the country, but claimed all post-retirement benefits. 

But one year down the line, and with assembly elections fast approaching, the 'mellowed' ruling party leaders are using their influence in getting foreign leave for teachers who are close to their voters, without bothering about rules and regulations. 

In the last four months, the state education department has cleared over 100 applications and most of the teachers submitted no affidavits. They only gave an assurance that they would join duty by the specified date. They have to thank  for this. 

Apparently with an eye on the polls, Sekhwan, clearly in a please-all mood, said the teacher could submit an affidavit later. "The large number of formalities cause unnecessary delay in the applicant getting leave" he pointed out. But the officials in education department said this change in approach has put them in a very embarrassing situation. 

"As per rules, we cannot clear an application until it is accompanied by the self-declaratory affidavits, but as these requests are being cleared by the minister, we can neither object, nor forward these applications for necessary action,'' said a senior officer in education department. 

After many reprimands failed to rein in the teachers, in June 2010, the  had decided the sack teachers who had overstayed abroad, some for over seven years. 

Initially, the staffers get six-month 'no-pay' ex-India leave and go abroad. Then, they keep on extending their leave on one pretext or the other, even citing poor health as a hurdle in air travel.