Teachers of Maharaja’s College get relieving orders

KOCHI: The Maharaja’s College,  which is embroiled in a strike  over the  autonomy move, was caught in another controversy with the state government giving compulsory relieving orders late  on Friday to eight teachers  who had been  earlier transferred. 

The  government  issued the orders allegedly flouting an order of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) which had stayed the transfers for one week.

A total of 10 out of 15 transferred teachers had approached the KAT and got the stay. However, the  government has now issued relieving orders to eight  teachers saying that their replacements have already joined the college.

The  teachers alleged that the government action was contempt of court  and said they would intensify the agitation and legal proceedings.

The   relieving orders were issued to  M.S. Murali, George Mathew, K. Jayakumar, E.K. Rajmohan, Rohini R. Nair, Rekha Kareem, Femina K.S. and Smitha M.

The teachers also allege that the government was raising ridiculous arguments about the transfers. “The government says that M.S. Murali who works in the Malayalam department has been relieved as R.S. Lakshmipriya  has joined in the English department. The order also says that George Mathew in the mathematics department has been relieved because T.R. Taslim  has joined the physics department. These arguments are ridiculous,” one teacher said.

The teachers,  who are members of the organization AKGCT,  say that they were transferred as they had opposed the autonomy move. AKGCT state president K. Ramakrishnan and general secretary K.K. Damodaran said that the organization would resist the move  tooth and nail. Meanwhile, an appeal filed by the transferred teachers is set to come up in the Kerala High Court on Monday.