Teacher Arrested Over Transfer; What RTI Reveals On Chief Minister's Wife

A teacher who asked for a transfer to Dehradun after 25 years to be with her children was turned away by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat, suspended and even arrested on charges of shouting and misbehaving at a public meeting. Turns out, Mr Rawat's wife, also a teacher, managed a transfer from a tough region within four years and has been in Dehradun without a shift for 22 years.

An RTI or Right to Information query has revealed that Sunita Rawat started working at a primary school in Paudi Gadhwal in 1992. In 1996, she was transferred to Dehradun and has since never been transferred, even after a promotion in 2008.

Uttara Bahuguna, the 57-year-old teacher who paid heavily for her argument with the Chief Minister at his public interaction on Thursday, has been working at a school in Uttarkashi for 25 years and is desperate to shift to Dehradun to be with her children after her husband's death.

But an official said she can't get an out-of-turn transfer.

"More than 58 people are posted in remote areas for longer duration than her. Her number is only 59th. The transfer is done only turn-wise," said Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh, School Education Secretary of the state.

Ms Bahuguna had met with the Chief Minister once before. Yesterday, she told him after so many years at what she felt was a remote outpost, she wanted to live with her children. "I don't want my children to be orphans in Dehradun. My situation is such that I can't leave my children or the job," she told him.

The back-and-forth grew heated as Ms Bahuguna insisted that the Chief Minister give her justice.

"I never signed up for exile all my life," Ms Bahuguna said. Annoyed, the Chief Minister asked her to "mind her language" and then shouted, "Suspend karo ise abhi (Suspend her immediately). Arrest her."

In a video clip, the teacher is seen screaming at the Chief Minister and shouting "thief, cheats" as she is led out of the meeting.

Uttara Bahuguna was arrested on charges of "disrupting an important gathering". She was let off in the evening.

"I lost my husband in 2015 and my children stay here (Dehradun). I can't leave my children here," Ms Bahuguna said today, breaking down.

"You can see in the video. He got angry when I demanded justice. I feel helpless. Is this what I get for working honestly and diligently for years? So I called them thieves. I will tell the truth even if god comes before me.