Government Puts Award for Kundapur Principal on Hold Amid Controversy
Udupi: The State government has withheld the best principal award for 2024-25 for Ramakrishna B.G., principal of the Government Pre-University College in Kundapur, Udupi district. This decision follows objections raised by activists and academics over his role in the hijab controversy in 2022.
Ramakrishna was among 41 recipients of the best teacher awards announced on Tuesday to mark Teacher’s Day. However, his selection sparked outrage due to his involvement in the hijab ban at his college in February 2022, which led to a statewide uproar.
The government’s move to withhold the award comes amid ongoing debates and sensitivities surrounding the hijab issue.”
The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) had slammed the state government for announcing an award for Ramakrishna and ran a campaign against him.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Thursday, Minister Bangarappa, while answering a question by the media that the principal was just carrying out government orders, said, “The way he treated the children is the issue, that’s all. If there is no problem, we will take a call. If he was following any government order, it had to be carried out in a certain manner. If it is not in a certain manner, then it will be questioned. So let me check the details. The department will check. It is not me who will take the call, the committee will make a decision in this regard.”
When asked whether the government was practicing vindictive politics, Minister Bangarappa stated, “Don’t politicise the issue. No vindictive politics is happening.”
“There is a district committee for the selection of names of deserving candidates when someone applies for the award. The committee will send it to the head office and at the head office there is another committee to look into it. In this particular issue they overlooked certain things. Once the issue came forward regarding the award, the decision was withheld for some time for clarity,” he maintained.
“The details are in public domain and no decision has been taken over withdrawing the award for now. I will have to look into the matter. It is withheld for now. I have asked authorities to recheck and get back. I don’t do that job, the committee will take a call,” he stated.
“Normally, the committee verifies everything and sends it to us. Usually, the list which comes is cleared. However, once the matter has come into public domain and also to our knowledge about objections being raised, we have to put it on hold for now and later we will take a decision,” he stated.
The development is likely to trigger a major controversy in the state.