Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat orders arrest, suspension of Uttarkashi school principal who sought transfer

On Thursday afternoon, Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat instructed the police to arrest a school principal after she protested at the ‘Janata Darbar’ in Dehradun over issue of her transfer. Rawat reportedly suspended the teacher and asked her to leave the hall.A video of the exchange went viral on social media.Fifty-seven-year-old Uttara Bahugana, the principal of a government primary school in Uttarkashi district's Naungaon area, had demanded she be transferred from the area after spending 25 years in a ‘remote location’, reported The Indian Express.[caption id="attachment_4290737" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Twitter @tsrawatbjp[/caption]When Rawat refused, she began arguing. The chief minister lost his cool and began shouting: "Suspend karo ise abhi. Custody mein le li jiye. (Suspend her immediately and take her into custody)." He said the suspension orders were issued for "showing disrespect and using abusive language".According to DNA, the principal was charged under Section 151 of Criminal Procedure Code and released on Thursday evening.Rawat then reportedly said that transfer requests shouldn't be brought to him on public grievance platforms. "All transfers of government employees will be done under the state’s Transfer Act," he said.Speaking to The Indian Express, Bahugana said she was now too old to work in remote areas. "Before the Uttarkashi village, I was posted in a remote area in Uttarkashi district’s Chinyalisaur. My husband used to take care of my two children, but after his death in August last year there is no one to take care of my children," she said.