 Early Times Report
Srinagar, Oct 5: The chief education officer (CEO) of Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir directed teaching and non-teaching staff employed under the department to refrain from criticising government policies on social media, warning them of punitive action, including dismissal from service.
In a circular on Saturday, he directed all the employees of School Education Department of the district to strictly adhere to the guidelines and refrain from “indulging in unwarranted debates and discussions and avoid sharing commenting or posting inappropriate content on social media platforms”.
The Baramulla CEO said various instances of misuse of social media platforms by teaching and non-teaching staff were discussed at a meeting chaired by the education department administrative secretary on Friday.
He said such acts as interference in the policy matters of the department. “The activities are purely violation of circular instructions issued by the government” in 2023, the CEO said.
The CEO said the administrative secretary directed all chief education officers to bring to the notice of the administration any such violation without fail in order to fix responsibly.
The circular on social media posts allows for punishments for violations, including censure, fine not exceeding one month’s pay, withholding increments and/or promotion, demotion, recovery from pay of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused to government by negligence or breach of orders, premature retirement and removal from the services of the state.
The circular, however, mentioned that the employees are not barred from using social media and they can use these platforms for “positive and constructive purposes”. |
