The word "unclean occupation" dropped from Haryana school form.
After protests by schools who objected to the Haryana government asking if parents of school children are "
engaged in any unclean occupation", the state government has decided to drop the words. State Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma told NDTV that he is not in the favour of the word.
"I am not in the favour of this word. My government in Delhi has changed it immediately. We have rejected, we have deleted the total document and we have changed this," Mr Sharma said. He then read out the sentence that was included in the document. "Occupations involved in cleaning and prone to health hazards," he read, adding, "we have totally changed that sentence."
The 100-point admission form also asked whether parents have any genetic disorder, along with a long list.
Mr Sharma, however, defended other questions which asked parents about their income tax details, the caste status of their children and whether the children were born with genetic defects.
Parents said that asking details of religion and caste is appalling. "If parents come from different religions, like Hindu and Sikh marriages are common in the region, what religion will the child mention. Moreover, why do they need bank account details of the student?" a harassed parent in Gurugram asked.
Opposition Congress accused the state's BJP government and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of "racial and religious profiling". Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted, "Khattar Govt does it again. Students labelled as 'untouchables' & their parents occupation as 'unclean'. Height of insanity is the kind of pvt info of parents being sought. Calling vocation of parents unclean is absurd."
When questioned, private school authorities, in their communication to parents, made it clear that the information was being sought by the state education department and not by the school.