Jaipur: Teachers deployed as booth-level officers (BLOs) for the ongoing OBC survey in Rajasthan have alleged that the exercise is once again disrupting classroom teaching, saying repeated non-academic assignments are leaving them with little time to perform their primary duty.They said the survey could have been conducted alongside the Census or during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, instead of assigning teachers to visit households separately. With additional duties during state recruitment examinations, they said teaching time has been shrinking steadily.In parts of Jodhpur and Chittorgarh districts, authorities have exempted BLOs from school duties to ensure completion of the survey by July 23.“The enumerators appointed for this OBC enumeration task are granted full-day exemption from their regular school-related duties for the period from July 10 to July 23,” an order issued by the electoral registration officer (Panchayat) and sub-divisional officer, Osian, in Jodhpur district stated. TOI has a copy of the July 9 order.A govt school teacher from Jaipur’s Subhash Chowk, who is also serving as a BLO, said, “Teachers are repeatedly assigned such surveys. The OBC survey was pending for long and could have been conducted along with the Census, when we visited every household. Instead, we now have to miss classes again to carry out this exercise.”A teacher from Chittorgarh said authorities have directed BLOs to complete the survey by July 23 and granted special leave for the purpose. “The academic session began early this year to increase teaching days, but for the past few months we have been continuously assigned non-academic work,” the teacher said.Teachers’ associations said they have repeatedly urged the state govt to reduce the burden of non-teaching duties, but their demands have gone unaddressed.Rajasthan Shikshak Sangh (Rashtriya) state president Ramesh Pushkarna said that teachers approached the state high court and the Supreme Court nearly a decade ago, and both courts ruled in their favour on the issue of limiting non-academic work. “However, the directions are not being implemented. Every district collector issues separate orders assigning such duties, and ultimately students suffer because teachers are unable to attend school regularly,” he said.
