PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Commotion broke out in the State Education directorate on Saturday afternoon when a group of people accompanying Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma ‘Kau’ allegedly assaulted Primary Education director Ajay Kumar Naudiyal at his office.
As per the information available, the BJP MLA arrived in Naudiyal’s office in the afternoon seeking information on the status of the demand to rename the government primary school Asthal in Raipur block. The talk between the people in the group and the director turned into a heated exchange of words followed by throwing of chairs and other things. The director sustained injury near his eye in the assault.
Later, he said that the people who were with the MLA were demanding a change of name of a primary school. “I told them that the power to change the name of any school is vested in the State administration and the matter has been referred to it,’’ he said. Naudiyal alleged that the people accompanying the MLA attacked him and locked the door of this office from inside. Naudiyal said that necessary legal action will be taken in the issue.
Late in the evening, the director filed a complaint in the Raipur police station against the MLA and his supporters. Explaining his side, the MLA said that a family in Asthal had donated their land for the primary school in their village and wanted the department to name the school after a deceased elder of the family. He said that the family members had made many visits to the directorate on the issue. Kau added that when the issue was brought before him, he contacted the Education secretary Ravinath Raman who said that no such request had come from the directorate.
“Today again when I visited the office, the director said that a request had been sent to the State administration. I asked him to give me a copy of the letter sent to the secretary which he failed to produce. Instead he and some of the employees started misbehaving,’’ he said. The MLA alleged that one of the employees threw a telephone at him following which the situation deteriorated. He claimed that he was actually trying to pacify both sides.
After the incident the employees of the directorate left their work and gathered outside the office and started a Dharna. They demanded the arrest of the MLA and those involved in the attack on the director.
