4 months ago
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The headmistress of a authorities schoolhouse successful Chhattisgarh has been suspended aft a question successful a Class IV English question insubstantial allegedly acceptable by her triggered allegations of hurting spiritual sentiments, officials said connected Sunday (January 11, 2026).
Disciplinary proceedings person besides been initiated to disregard the insubstantial moderator, a contractual pistillate teacher, from service, they said.
During the half-yearly examinations held precocious successful authorities schools crossed the Raipur division, an English insubstantial included the question, "What is the sanction of Mona's dog?" with 4 options.
One of the options listed the sanction 'Ram', prompting objections arsenic Lord Ram is simply a revered deity successful Hinduism. The different options were 'Bala', 'Sheru' and 'No One'.
The substance archetypal came to airy successful Mahasamund territory and subsequently successful different districts of the Raipur division, sparking a contention and protests from right-wing outfits.
Following complaints, a five-member enquiry committee was constituted to probe the matter.
Based connected its findings, the insubstantial setter, Shikha Soni, headmistress of Government Primary School, Nakti (Khapri), nether Tilda improvement artifact successful Raipur district, was suspended, District Education Officer (DEO) Raipur Himanshu Bhartiya said successful a connection connected Saturday.
Disciplinary proceedings person besides been initiated to disregard the insubstantial moderator, Namrata Verma, an adjunct teacher (contractual), from service, helium said.
In her written explanation, Ms. Soni admitted the mistake, stating that the connection 'Ram' was inadvertently printed alternatively of 'Ramu' owed to the omission of the missive 'U'. The mistake occurred unknowingly during the mentation of the question insubstantial and went unnoticed adjacent during review, the connection said.
She maintained that she had nary volition of hurting spiritual sentiments oregon insulting immoderate religion oregon community, and expressed regret portion seeking forgiveness.
Ms. Verma, successful her explanation, said she was assigned to hole 1 of the 2 sets of Class IV English question papers received from the territory acquisition office. Each question carried 4 multiple-choice options, which she retained arsenic provided. She admitted that she failed to announcement the connection 'Ram' decently and said the lapse was unintentional.
She besides expressed regret and assured that specified a mistake would not beryllium repeated successful the future.
The DEO has issued informing letters to the Block Education Officer, Tilda, for not selecting an experienced teacher, and to the main of Shaheed Smarak Swami Atmanand Utkrisht School, Raipur, for failing to name an due moderator for the paper, officials said.
The question had triggered protests by right-wing outfits extracurricular the DEO's bureau successful Mahasamund, with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad demanding the apprehension and dismissal of those liable for preparing the question paper.
