DM eats food with students, reinstates 'untouchable' cook

Aurangabad: In a bid to put an end to untouchability, DM Kawal Tanuj has played a Good Samaritan on the complaint of a dalit widow Urmila Kunwar, a cook of the government middle school at Batura under Rafiganj block of the district.
Urmila was sacked by the school principal, Govind Kumar Yadav, on the ground of being a dalit and widow and said students of the school would not like to consume meals cooked by her any more.
According to the principal, "A dalit and that too a widow is not considered a good omen in the village and students did not liked to eat the food cooked by Urmila."
Incidentally, Urmila, is the lone bread earner in her family and she has to educate her son and a daughter. Unable to accept the humiliation, a couple of days ago she met the DM at his office and narrated the entire incident.
Taking cognizance of her complaint, the DM himself rushed to the school campus with SDM (sadar) Surendra Prasad and in-charge district education officer Yaduwansh Ram and inquired into the matter on Tuesday.
Urmila, had also apprised the DM that the principal was demanding Rs 10,000 to re-induct her.
During the inquiry, it became clear that the principal was unnecessarily harassing the widow in the name of the students and the villager. The DM immediately suspended the principal and ordered to lodge an FIR against him.
The DM also sat on the floor of school and took the midday meal cooked by Urmila along with the officers and students.
Seeing the DM eating, the students were ecstatic. A student Rohit Kumar said, "It is great to see a DM eating midday meal sitting on floor. For the first time these students had seen the generosity of any official."
Talking to TOI, Tanuj said the sacked cook has been re-appointed and untouchability is a sin in this age.
"I have ordered the officials concerned to conduct an inquiry into all such cases in the last five years where termination was done the ground of untouchability or caste," he added.