In yet another bizarre diktat by the ML Khattar government in Haryana, teachers have been asked to take training to carry out the functions of priests, ahead of the ‘mela’ at Yamunanagar Temple.
The teachers are expected to perform ‘pooja’ and even distribute ‘prasad’ during the ‘mela’ or a village fair at the temple.
In fact, the teachers who dared to skip the priest training sessions have reportedly been issued a show cause notice by the government.
Opposition parties, as well as a few teachers, have criticised the state government over the order for attempting to put ‘rituals’ ahead of the education of students.
Earlier this month, the Haryana government had again come under fire after it issued ordered that no license would be provided to set up new meat shops in residential areas of Gurugram, with critics accusing the government of “saffronising” food habits of citizens.
However, defending the government’s stance, Jawahar Yadav of the BJP said that the government’s order had been “misinterpreted” and that “teachers were only asked to distribute prasad” and not to “perform puja”.
He said that the order had to be issued as many devotees pay a visit to the temple during the mela and so people had to be employed to better manage the crowd.
The BJP also claimed that the order was “not compluslory” for the teachers to follow.
