KENDRAPADA: The education department has issued a show cause notice to the Headmaster of a govt-run primary school in Jajpur district for allegedly coming to school intoxicated each day.
The notice was issued on Friday following complaints from guardians that Ratikanta Parihal, the 45-year-old Headmaster of Vigigotha Primary School, was attending school in an inebriated state, affecting the education of the school’s 68 students from classes one to five.
A video showing the intoxicated Headmaster lying on the ground near the school recently went viral on social media, sparking outrage.
“A video showing the intoxicated Headmaster lying on the ground near the school went viral recently, leading to an outrage on social media platforms for which we issued a show cause notice to him and directed him to reply within a week. A show cause notice is a formal document that informs a party of an alleged offence or misconduct and gives them an opportunity to explain themselves. If the party fails to respond, they may face further consequences. After getting the reply, we will take proper departmental action against the Headmaster,” said Abhijit Barik, the Block Education Officer (BEO) of Dharamsala.
This is not the first incident of its kind in Jajpur district. On 4th September of this year, another teacher, Pradeep Kumar Das, from a Government Primary School in Balisahi village under Dasarathpur block, was suspended for being found inebriated while teaching students. In a separate case from 15th September 2019, a drunk teacher from an Upper Primary School in Kendrapada district was suspended for allegedly molesting a 12-year-old girl student.
Additionally, in 2019, a drunk teacher from a govt-managed primary school in Jajpur district was arrested for allegedly forcing students to kneel down while he was intoxicated.
These incidents have highlighted the growing problem of alcohol abuse in the area and its impact on the community.
Akshya Rout, a social worker from the district, stated, “These incidents proved that an unchecked flow of liquor has started wreaking havoc with the people of our areas and following this, anti-social activities have gone up in the locality. Police in many areas seem to have turned a blind eye to this illicit trade.”
