• Source:JND

Delhi Dog Count Row: The Delhi government's Directorate of Education (DoE) on Thursday filed a formal police complaint, seeking legal action those who were spreading misinformation on social media over a circular to appoint nodal officers for matters related to stray dogs. The development comes amid allegations that the government appointed teachers to count stray dogs near their schools.

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Veditha Reddy, Director, Education, Delhi, said, "A narrative has been circulated on social media and amplified, claiming that government school teachers in Delhi were directed to count stray dogs. It is categorically stated that this claim is completely false, fabricated, and baseless. No such order, instruction, circular or policy decision has ever been issued by the Directorate of Education requiring teachers to count dogs."

Teachers Are Engaged Only For Academic Responsibilities: DoE

Teachers are engaged only for academic responsibilities, she asserted saying that the false narrative is completely mischievous and directly harms the teachers' morale and dignity.

This has created confusion and panic among teachers and school staff, misled the parents and the public at large, she said.

"Some people on social media have been seen to be impersonating teachers and counting dogs, which is completely mischievous. This issue has been formally taken cognisance of. Digital evidence, posts and timelines have been documented and preserved. A formal complaint has also been filed with the Delhi Police. The complaint addresses the deliberate misinformation, impersonation of some persons as teachers, criminal defamation, coordinated amplification, incitement and misuse of social media. Legal action will be pursued in accordance with the law and facts, and responsibility will prevail over false narratives."

AAP Vs BJP On Teachers On Stray Dogs Duty Row

Earlier, the Opposition, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sanjeev Jha, however, rejected this dismissal of its claim by the Delhi government and said Sood is either "not aware of what is happening in his department, or he is spreading lies".

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Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat, Sood said earlier in the day that AAP leaders had spread false claims on social media suggesting that teachers were being diverted from their academic responsibilities to count stray dogs, and challenged the party to place any official order or circular in the public domain to support its allegation.

Jha, however, alleged that the BJP is not able to handle the education system in Delhi. "Before 2015, teachers were deployed for other things, but after our government came to power, Manish Sisodia (who was the education minister) understood the pain of teachers. Sisodia has left behind a legacy in terms of shaping the education system, and these people are not able to handle it," he said.

(With agencies inptus)


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