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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Plea in HC for fresh polls, new body

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : A senior medical practitioner has knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court, alleging serious irregularities in the functioning of the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) and challenging the continuation of its current Administrator.   In a petition filed through Advocate Sharad V. Natu, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant has termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman as “illegal and arbitrary,”  and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture....

Plea in HC for fresh polls, new body

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : A senior medical practitioner has knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court, alleging serious irregularities in the functioning of the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) and challenging the continuation of its current Administrator.   In a petition filed through Advocate Sharad V. Natu, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant has termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman as “illegal and arbitrary,”  and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture.   Dr. Beramji, who headed the five-member statutory body 's inaugural term (from May 2018 to May 2023), was subsequently appointed as its Administrator after the council’s term expired.   According to Dr. Sawant’s plea, the Administrator’s appointment was initially meant to be a stop-gap arrangement for one year, and it was ‘extended’ later. However, nearly three years later, the position continues without fresh elections being conducted, raising questions over adherence to statutory norms and principles of governance.   Dr. Sawant has further contended that while Dr. Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.   The petition claims that the delay in conducting elections was justified on the grounds of an incomplete voter list, but this reason was flimsy considering the extended time lapse.   The petition, likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday (April 21), also levelled serious allegations regarding the manner in which the MCA has been run under the Administrator. It claims decisions have been taken unilaterally, whimsically and without transparency or institutional accountability.   Besides, Dr. Sawant has made allegations of selective targeting of certain members who have attempted to raise valid issues, including the globally-renowned noted acupuncture expert Dr. P. B. Lohiya of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.   Adding to the controversy, a former MCA office-bearer has claimed that over the past three years, approvals were granted to more than a dozen acupuncture colleges in undue haste, purportedly in violation of prescribed norms and alleged shady deals.   These institutions, it is claimed, either exist only on paper or lack essential infrastructure, faculty, and facilities. In addition, around two dozen Continuous Acupuncture Education (CAE) centres were also cleared during this period.   In his multiple prayers to the high court, Dr. Sawant has sought quashing Dr. Beramji’s appointment as MCA Administrator and setting aside all policy decisions taken during his tenure in that capacity in the last three years.   The petition also urged the court to direct the state government to conduct elections to elect and reconstitute a new five-member MCA within two months.   Pending this, the plea seeks an order restraining the Administrator from continuing in office or interfering in the functioning of the MCA or the CAEs in the interest of free and fair elections or the cause of Acupuncture.   Sources within the MCA have described the situation as “deeply concerning,” alleging that individuals of international standing, such as Dr. Lohiya - who has treated prominent personalities like Sachin Tendulkar, the late Manoj Kumar, state and central ministers and other public figures - are being unfairly hounded.   The petition has called for a comprehensive review of all decisions taken during the Administrator’s tenure, a financial audit of the MCA’s financial affairs, and an independent probe by the Medical Education & Drugs Department (MEDD) into the approvals granted to the institutions in recent years.   Despite repeated attempts by  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ , top MCA officials like the Administrator or the Registrar Narayan Nawale, were not available for their comments.

Lethal Pedagogy

It takes an extraordinary failure of judgment for a school to forget its prime duty of protecting the child. This is precisely what happened in Palghar, where a Class 6 student died days after she was allegedly forced to do 100 sit-ups with her schoolbag strapped to her back for the simple offence of arriving late. The 12-year-old’s death is a searing indictment of an education culture that remains in far too many corners of India both authoritarian and indifferent to the dignity of children.


The child, who was already burdened by fragile health, was subjected to a punishment that would test even the fittest adult. Her mother says she staggered home in agony, unable to stand, weeping from searing pain in her neck and back. When confronted, the teacher allegedly defended the ordeal as the sort of ‘strictness’ that is expected in a fee-paying school where parents demand results. Corporal punishment in India is supposedly banned. The Right to Education Act and various juvenile-justice provisions promise a protective, nurturing environment.


But the enforcement is sporadic, coupled with weak oversight and social attitudes often permissive. Many parents still regard physical punishment as a ‘normal’ and even a necessary instrument of learning.


This tragedy is not without precedent. From Tamil Nadu to Uttar Pradesh, students have died or been permanently disabled after being beaten, slapped forced into stress positions or humiliated in class. Such incidents rarely result in more than perfunctory inquiries or cosmetic training sessions. The deeper problem of schools valuing obedience over curiosity and rote learning over emotional development remains unaddressed.


Palghar’s case is especially chilling because it speaks to something darker than mere negligence. The punishment seems to have been carried out not in a moment of temper, but as standard operating procedure. The teacher’s alleged defence reveals a corrosive market logic invading the classroom. If education is treated as a transaction, discipline becomes a performance in which children ultimately pay the price.


The Palghar tragedy demands that the response must be more than the usual choreography of suspensions and inquiries. Not just Maharashtra, but India needs to confront the persistence of corporal punishment with the seriousness it deserves. That means mandatory reporting of all such incidents, real consequences for institutions that allow them and better psychological and pedagogical training for teachers. It also means an honest engagement with parents, many of whom still equate severity with quality. Countries that have successfully eliminated corporal punishment have done so not just by banning it, but by reshaping culture.


Children do not die because they are late to school. They die when the adults entrusted with their care treat them as instruments to be disciplined, not humans to be nurtured. The Palghar tragedy should shame a country that prides itself on its demographic dividend yet often treats its young with callous disregard. The lesson this time must not be forgotten. The price has already been far too high. 

 


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