Education minister Ashish Sood denies claims of teachers handling stray dog duties

New Delhi: Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Tuesday rejected claims that teachers have been deployed to handle matters related to stray dogs around their educational institutions. He said that no specific role has been assigned to school teachers in matters related to stray dogs.

Addressing a press conference, Sood alleged, "The Aam Aadmi Party leaders have been spreading misinformation on social media claiming that teachers were being diverted from their academic responsibilities for non-teaching duties." No such order or circular has been issued by the Delhi government, the minister said, and challenged the AAP to place any official document in the public domain to substantiate its claim.

The Directorate of Education directed schools in the national capital to appoint nodal officers to handle matters related to stray dogs around their educational institutions, in compliance with a Supreme Court order over the issue, but no such specific role has been assigned to teachers.

In an official statement issued on Monday, the directorate clarified, "No directions have been issued by the Directorate of Education concerning the assignment of specific duties to teachers." There was no immediate response available from the Aam Aadmi Party to the allegations made by the education minister.

Sood further said that similar allegations were made by the AAP on several occasions in recent days, including claims related to administrative actions and school-related instructions, which he described as “incorrect”.