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Basundra Kumar punished for telling the truth about Mahendra Reddy's performance as Education Minister; now media employed to besmirch her character to save Reddy!

2/1/2015

40 Comments

 
IN –CONFIDENCE

The Honorable Minister 

Head of Government in Parliament

Honorable Tikoduadua

RE: MATTERS OF CONCERN IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Dear Sir

Thank you for your immediate response on my request to raise some issues of concern in the Ministry of Education. You have asked me to summarize these issues. The following are some matters of concern:

1.      Introduction

As a senior civil servant and the acting Permanent Secretary of Education I am duty bound with a deep allegiance to the Banimarama government, to bring to your attention some issues of concern which has the potential to bring disrepute to the government. I have sought audience with the Prime Minister and with the Minister of Public Service but to date I have had no response.

The issues I have to raise have largely to do with the Minister for Education. At the outset let me point out that I have no personal grudges against the Minister. My concerns are purely professional and are intended to save guard the credibility and the integrity of the present government.

The concerns can be categorized under three major headings but you may find that the issues covered under these headings may overlap boundaries of categorization.

2.      Breach of Civil Service procedures, Parochialism, Cronyism and Favoritism

Soon after the appointment of the Minister, he established several positions in the Accounts section, disbanded the Executive support unit and established an investigation unit which later became part of the Ethics committee. He set a new salary scale for all new appointees.  The new appointees are his people either from FNU or Commerce commission or teachers who have been his campaigners during the election. This is widely known and seen to be an act of nepotism.

·         Dharemendra Dayal a teacher from Rishikul College brought in to act as education officer ED4B. ( this appointment was reverted by me to regularize the position after the public outcry)

·         Yogesh Krishna a teacher from Amhadiya Muslim College brought in to act as Education Officer ED4B. ( this appointment was reverted by me to regularize the position after the public outcry)

·         Evelyn Sami an administrative officer from FNU and his Secretary whilst he was the Dean at FNU. He chose to jump her from the salary scale step 2 to step 8 which is very irregular for civil service appointments. (when HR section issued her a contract with step 2 salary, Eroni was threatened for termination in the full staff meeting. Rightfully she should have been appointed at the base salary of $22000 but she is receiving the step 8 salary at $28000. Our existing staff of the same grade are still struggling at the base salary and there is gossiping and bickering on the issue.

·         Nikita Natasha Reddy was a temporary staff at Commerce Commission and was brought in as a research officer in our statistics unit. Position was created for her after de-establishing a very important post of the Principal Education Officer –Eastern. The district now has no PEO post and it is affecting the service delivery. The Divisional Education Officer is complaining as it is affecting the district transfers and others responsibilities allocated with post.

·         Krishneel Sami was a temporary clerk at Bureau of Statistics and he has been appointed against our officers who had the merit and were acting on the post. I wasn’t aware that he was Evelyn Sami (Ministers’ EOS’ Brother until the information surfaced from FTA). One of our own TRCO (Kushal) who had the same qualification raised his concern by making a comparison. He was ordered for termination/ a transfer. He remains with us but in a different section. This is seen to be an obvious case of intimidation, suppression and victimization.

·         A former employee of Commerce Commission, Donish Lal has been appointed as a Principal Accounts Officer, believed to be appointed on a Taylor made advertisement. We were not aware of this person till he began demanding for a $50,000 salary scale. A second PAO position was created to allow for his nominee.

NOTE

There is a Human Resource Development Plan under which the Ministry’s succession plan is based.  Our officers see this as their career path and line of promotion. We as the employers are duty bound to provide them the training and prepare them for the next position. Our officers who have already done their service exams and have the necessary experience were acting on the posts of responsibilities but they have been reverted to lower posts to make way for his people. My staff have been running to me looking to rescue them. I was helpless as the instructions were from the Minister. There is a lot of internal bickering and gossip making about the minister doing injustice.

The Minister was directly liaising with Eroni our HR personnel until I pointed out to him (Eroni) that under section 127 of the Constitution the PS had the authority. The constitution is interpreted by the Minister as giving him all the powers.

3.      Appointment at Curriculum Development Unit (CDU)

The requirement is for all CDU officers to have the teacher training with relevant degree but the Minister changed it himself to a Masters Qualification in the respective subjects without any teacher training. His emphasis is that we have to dictate to the Universities what we need in their modules but the CDU is to make curriculum for our schools and those working must have the practical experience to understand the needs. He has already appointed people of his choice and most of them are from outside the teaching fraternity. As the Permanent Secretary, I have no knowledge of the promoted officers till today because the day these promotions took place majority of us were out of office attending to schools prize giving. The Minister himself chaired all the promotion board meetings. This is seen to be in conflict as the Minister is expected to play a political role only and to oversee the implementation of those  policies.   

4.      Changing the Minimum Qualification Requirement (MQR)

The MQR is a legal document and it gets challenged in the Court of Law by way of judicial review. The Minister decided to change it for the posts which were already advertised in June under the old MQR. The consultation processes were not adhered to procedurally and my fear is that if gets challenged in the court we could lose the cases. We have not sought advice and endorsement from the Solicitor General’s Office on the implementation of a new matrix/ MQR. The Minister used inexperienced and junior teachers to make the matrix. The section head from the Post Processing Unit Mrs.Rose Chand was threatened for a transfer and termination when she started to advice. Rose is an efficient and high performing officer in our Ministry and knows the job well. The independence of the post processing unit is no longer the same.

5.      The restructuring of the government departments

 The Prime Minister has announced that the re-structure of the government departments will be done by the World Bank with the actual process to be implemented in 2016 with a thorough consultation to begin next year. The Minister has already started it at our Ministry without a holistic understanding of the entire civil service which the World Bank would have done. The Minister has already announced the following:

·         There will be no Deputy Secretaries (the Deputy Secretary Corporate Services fell vacant after the post holder retired in June. Mr. Sulasi Turgabeci was acting and now he has gone on pre-retirement leave but the Minister has asked not to appoint anyone to act on the established post)

·         There will be no Divisional Education Officers (we have 4 posts, 2 are now vacant due to resignations and retirement, the DEO-Central has resigned to join AQEP and the DEO-North who was due to retire in February has resigned to join FNU. The DEO-West has been sent on leave awaiting his termination for no crime by him. There are no leaders/ divisional heads in 3 divisions. He has ordered these will not be filled.

·         There will be no Principal Education officers in the Districts. I requested him to allow them acting till 31st December 2014 after which they will be going away to schools. The Principal Education Officers posts were advertised and PPU was ready with schedule for interviews and processing, the Minister has asked that all that be put to rest.

·         Our post processing unit has always been an independent section. They would receive applications and draw up the schedule. These schedules will only be accessed by the senior staff (Directors and above) to discuss and process the vacancies,   The PPUS’ role is now being interfered with by the inclusion of the Ministers nominees who are junior staff. Post Processing requires administrative duties but recently a post has been advertised (Taylor made for his choice).

NOTE – this has already begun to de-stabilize the Ministry of education.

6.      Termination, without due processes, intimidation and harassment 

Some school teachers have been terminated and suspended without following the due disciplinary processes of the government. The terminated teachers have taken the matter to court and my advise to the Minister was to follow the due process which was ignored.

·         Mr, Sulasi Turagabeci acting DSCS raised in a staff briefing the Minister’s unbecoming actions and decisions. There was long discussion but his suggestions were not taken well by the Minister. He also made comments about the Minister at the Education Forum but he was stopped by the chair. The pain and anguish of the staff was brought to the  members of the forum but their frustration needs to be understood.  

·         Lorima Voravora a very senior officer and Divisional Education Officer West was not happy with the manner in which a teacher was terminated by the Minister in early October. He raised his concern about the government’s disciplinary process and asked if the procedures had changed. He had emailed it in to some Principals and Head teachers asking that advise be provided to the leaders. The Minister wasn’t happy and ordered that he be terminated. I had to send Lorima on leave pending the advice by the Solicitor General’s Office

·         Satya Nand Shandil the Divisional Education Officer North (with a masters qualification) only provided his advise in writing on a Head Teachers case in Labasa. The Minister ordered that the head teacher be transferred and demoted because he had some heated arguments with him whilst he was campaigning in North. The Minister made everything unworkable for Shandil. I was asked by the Minister to get him to resign.  Disheartened and unhappy, Shandil found a job at FNU and resigned last month.

·         Mrs. Lusiana Fotofilli the Director Exams with masters qualification in evaluation which is right qualifications for the post. her area spoke at one of the senior staff meetings and said that the Ministers leadership was scary and that the staffs were feeling insecure has been transferred from the Exams section to the culture department. She is contesting her unceremonious removal. She was trained by the ministry for the post. Money was spent on her overseas training.

·         Seci Waqabaca has a master’s qualification in curriculum and was acting as Director CAS (Curriculum Advisory Section) has been removed from his position because he was in the team doing the cabinet paper on the removal of the scaling in external examination. They provided an alternate to scaling stating that it is a national issue and has to be treaded on carefully. I was asked by the Minister to revert him from his acting position and transfer him to Nausori Education office.

·         Seruppepeli Udre the Acting Divisional Education Officer Central is a very committed and dedicated officer of our Ministry. He was the most meritorious officer for the post and would have been confirmed on it. Minister stopped the processing stating that the post will be de-established. Udre show a bleak future for himself in the Ministry so he resigned to join AQEP.

·         Mr. Narain Sharma was acting PEO- Primary and was an excellent unit. The Minister openly and blatantly accused him of planning a mutiny against him with the Head teachers. Sharma gracefully resigned and has joined AQEP.

·         Saimoni Waibuta Director Asset Monitoring Unit and the acting Deputy Secretary was asked to be reverted to his post even though he was acting on my post. I wrote to explain to him the HR policy of our ministry that someone should act on a temporary vacancy. He was extended till 31st December but his  morale and self-esteem fell. He came to me on several occasions and asked me to inform the higher authorities of the wrong in our ministry. I continued to console my staff because I knew without them I couldn’t function.

·         Jai Narayan the Director Secondary education is looking exhausted with the excessive pressure. The Minister finds that Jai Narayan  meets the deadline through sacrifice of his personal time so he is loaded with work. Jai discuses with me as his supervisor and tells me that one day he will push the table upside down and walk away. He asked me for mercy. I rang the PS-PSC, the Prime Minister’s office and spoke to Kisoko and the PS-PMO and verbally asked them for advise.

NOTE The Minister blatantly intimidates senior officers and if he sees an element of explanation, suggestion or advice to revisit the Ministers decision, he orders for termination or transfer.

7.      Disregard for Cabinet collective decision and unilateral decision making 

To introduce the policies announced in the manifesto is the prerogative of the government and all staff are supportive of the reforms. Where the policies are not in the manifesto and were introduced by the previous Bainimarama government would require re-endorsement of the cabinet. Otherwise some radical reforms in contradiction to the policies of the previous government could prove embarrassing. The duty of the civil servant is to ensure that the present government does not face any embarrassment. The manner in which the reforms have been announced in our Ministry is alarming and some in breach of accepted protocol. The following reforms were announced:

·         Re-claiming the teachers (returning to the core functions of the teacher)

·         Reducing the teacher work load by 60%

·         Reducing the teacher pupil ratio

·         Opening of Technical colleges

·         Re-introducing exams in year 6 & 10

·         Standardizing exams in years 7,8,9 and 11

·         Review the curriculum

·         Distribution of milk to class 1 students

·         Removal scaling of marks

·         2.5 GPA for teacher recruitment

·         Experienced and trained teachers for year one

·         Closing of tvet centers in various secondary schools

Except for the opening of the Technical Colleges and the distribution of the milk, all other matters are outside the manifesto and would protocol wise require cabinet collective decision.

In normal circumstances two types of cabinet papers are prepared, one for information and the other for discussion and approval.

We have informed the Minister that the government machinery requires cabinet decisions and papers are to be prepared which requires planning, research and consultations. He gives one day timeframe to write and present to him a cabinet paper. This is impossible and I understand the other work pressures that my staff endure but for the Minister it is inability and poor performance. The Director working on the Technical paper has been keeping herself in the office till very late but couldn’t finish and submit the paper due to the requirement from the Solicitor General’s office. He is seeing this as non – cooperation and not supporting his reforms.

The re-introduction of examinations - The abolishment of examination was concerted policy of the previous Bainimarama government. The advise to take the new policy to cabinet was not taken very well. I explained and produced to him a cabinet paper of 2009 for the abolishment of the exams by the same government. The decision that exams will be re-introduced has been formalized without the cabinet endorsement. The Minister felt I was sabotaging his reform.

The Minister wanted to immediately remove the scaling system and give out raw marks for year 12 and 13 external examinations. We were invited to the press conference which was abruptly called on a Sunday. I advised him that it was a political decision implemented in 1978 and we can’t announce the removal without a cabinet decision. The Director Exams Luisa Fotofilli also expressed her view stating it was an internationally tested formula and we will have to follow procedures angered him. He made up his mind that we were not supporting him.

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) was approved by the Cabinet in 2012 and it is being piloted in schools. The Minister has asked that it be put on hold. I as an experience teacher see a lot of difficulties with the reduction of teacher load, without a commensurate increase in schools staffing to manage the administrative load. Teachers need to know their student’s very well thus some administrative duty is a must. The teachers’ terms and conditions are different from other civil servants because their extra work is accounted for and they enjoy a lot of holidays with the children. However, Minister still wants them freed from administrative responsibilities. He hasn’t consulted me or the staff for our inputs as we would have advised him that it is in the process of training them for the leadership roles.

8.      Non-participative, self-accrediting micro-management style – undermining collegiality, quality and productivity

The Minister has been with us for more than 3 months and till today he has not shown any appreciation for the work done at the Ministry. He has publicly rubbished the good work done by our predecessors and the existing staff. He shows no respect to any senior staff.  Most of us have been ridiculed in front the school managements and outsiders. At one particular Senior Management meeting he openly and vehemently accused me of doing nepotism and favoritism. This allegation was wild and unsubstantiated and it caused restlessness in staff as they witnessed no respect by the Minister for the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Education. 

The Minister is a micro-manager. This delays service delivery and leads to duplication of duties. For example he wants to himself approve the transfers, teacher appointments, promotions and everything that is happening in the Ministry. We have 10,300 teachers, 735 Primary schools, 178 Secondary schools and 17 special schools. We have Deputy Secretaries and Directors to manage these duties with their staff. Every senior manager has their position description and they are accountable for their roles thus unwarranted interference in their duties is seen as undermining their job description, lack of trust, poor customer service and delayed service delivery. The Deputies and the Directors are demoralized with loss of respect for their positions and themselves.

The Minister has changed the name of the meetings that were taking place in the Ministry from the senior staff meeting (SSM) to (SMG) senior management meeting which is a borrowed concept from FNU. This has brought about disruptions in our operations as there used to be two meetings and well scheduled one for the Minister where the policies were made and endorsed by the Minister together with the cabinet papers presented and discussed thoroughly before being taken to the cabinet. It used to be very professional, well organized and well conducted with high respect being accorded to all the senior staff. This would then follow the Permanent Secretarys meeting where ministry’s operational and the policy matters would be discussed in a dignified and professional manner. Under the new leadership the staff have forgotten their roles. Meetings are called on ad hoc basis and the Minister reaches out to the senior staff without following protocols. Under a Parliamentary and a cabinet system the Minister deals with policy issues and ensures that the political promises made by the government of the day are carried out. The decisions that have budgetary implications have to be provided for in the budget before public money can be utilized. Little regard is paid to this essential feature of accountability.

The cases of apparent cronyism and favoritism have already been pointed out earlier. There has already been public outcry on some of these issues. The Minister has never met me alone to discuss the way forward for this Ministry. His executive officer sitting beside him all the time keeps a recorder on. Everybody including me as the acting PS  have not been able to share openly our concerns, suggestions and views.

Dealing with school management

The school managements who have sought audience with him regarding appointment of their school heads have gone out sad and dissatisfied. Our schools are private –public partnership and we have noted that the non-government schools are doing very well. The school managements have spent their time through voluntary services to provide this great service to the nation. They deserve our appreciation.

School investigations

The Bhawani Dayal Arya College investigations proved that the Principal had committed a criminal offence. The teachers who gave evidences against the Principal were transferred out by the Minister and the Principal was returned to the school to complete the year and retire. As a Minister he should have reported the matter to Police but he chose to conceal a crime. The Principal is a known friend of the Minister. He has aided and abetted a perpetrator.

Personal Vendetta

The Minister was making a case against me because I had spoken to a head of department and advised him to play a stronger supervisory role. The students were suffering including my own daughter because of a poor math’s teacher.  The Minister entertained a CD being made and put to circulation. He wanted to use the same case to discipline me. His good boys went around gossiping about it in their circles stating the Minister had taken away all the powers from me.

My office (the Permanent Secretary’s) was broken into on 21st December 2014. The Police came and took the reports. Nothing was damaged except for the two laptops and the desk top computer was interfered with. The desk top screen had two pads (mensuration) pasted on the screen with vulgar words. The Assistant Ministers office adjacent to mine with the connecting door was safe with no interference. The laptop was carried out of the office and thrown some distance away. Obviously someone was searching for information. I went up to his office and reported to the Minister who merely laughed it off.

Staff Morale

The Minister wrote to the Minister of Public Service explaining a case against one of my relatives. He wrote without any investigation and discussion with me stating that I had “over exercised my power as the acting PS”. This was all fabricated and misleading information disseminated to another Minister on me. The officer who had been reverted from his acting position to substantive grade was promoted in 2010 under the leadership of the former PS Dr. Brij Lal.

The staff morale at the Ministry is very low and everybody is frightened to say or do any work. The senior staffs have been quietly taking leave and staying away from work. We have to fulfill major initiatives like the milk delivery, opening of Technical Colleges in 2015. I strongly feel that qualification alone cannot replace experience. We need both.  Our existing staff have worked hard to earn them the position and they need to be accorded respect and dignity. We have to bring back life in them and use their expertise to run this large Ministry. Termination, suspension and sending officers on leave is no answer to this silent protest by our officers, this is bringing a bad name to the government.

The Minister had announced an Education Commission but there is no budgetary   provision.  An Education Commission would have provided a more holistic view on desirable reforms to be introduced.  

The Minister is an academic and his experience is related to University Teaching.  He has   come in with a pre-conceived idea that this Ministry is hopeless and people have not been working. This seriously undermines the morale of the staff. He fails to realize that the Ministry has implemented 75 reforms out of which 42 are ongoing and the rest have been completed in the last 8 years introduced by the Banimarama government.

The dissatisfaction by the teachers has led to the Fijian Teachers Association filing a writ against our processors. The questions are targeted at me for not being able to assist the teachers.

Conclusion

I have been unceremoniously asked to revert to the position of Deputy Secretary. I am aware that there are differences of approach between the Minister and me but these are not irreconcilable. My concerns are professional. There is nothing personal.

My plea is that I be allowed to stay on in office until a substantive appointment is made or alternatively I be transferred to a suitable Ministry. I am also an applicant for diplomatic positions. A summary decision to revert me to my previous position will undermine my promotional prospects.

I hope common sense will prevail.

Sir, I still seek an audience with you to explain many other issues that I have not captured in this mail.

Yours Obediently

Basundra Kumar (Mrs.)

40 Comments
Novice minister
1/1/2015 06:22:12 pm

Looks like Mahen Reddy has been 'well' trained by his guru Ganesh Chand. Within three months, he has increased dysfunctionality at education ministry, demoralised staff, and made enemies of everyone, just like gadria Ganesh at FNU.

The only solution is to sack the novice minister.

Reply
Kavita
1/1/2015 06:44:41 pm

It is a known fact that TRUTH will eventually come out. So any attempts by the Fiji media to tarnish or wrongly target individuals will not prevail for long. The fiji public are resorting to alternative media sources to get to truth and as for madam Basundra she has been through the mill. The stakeholders know her and what is posted, she is very upfront with things and raising matters which ought to be raised.

When you look at it Reddy is a transplant from FNU done very legitmately via the election process and ministerial appointment. You can take him out of FNU but you cannot take FNU out of him. And we know his FNU Guru got sacked for mismanagement and abuse of office and the institution in shambles.

The point is Reddy just does not fit into a corporate environment , leave alone the strict procedural environment of civil service. For his comfort he brought in his people without the due process.

The large education sector are all literate people and cannot be fooled. The sad part is the current commotion is creating a lot of anxiety, hopelessness and lack of confidence.

The menstruation pads minister Reddy needs to be put in the sanitary bin.

The PM should think about CABINET RESHUFFLE. The immature Reddy will end up destroying the good work of the past educational leaders.

Reply
What a Mess
1/1/2015 07:41:10 pm

My God ,,,,,thanks Ms Basundra ,,,,,,here we have a mini ganesh chand type FNU operations being replicated.
Can we pls get rid of these type of moronic leader and have a real manager be the education Minister and funny thing that all being bought in by the cock eyed one are non i taukei

Reply
Pandey
1/1/2015 09:00:09 pm

It's time Mahendra R should be sacked. Baini your time soon

Reply
Media Freddie fighter
2/1/2015 12:04:37 am

Dear Victor, thanks for your hard work. Fiji leaks is proving to be a very credible source of alternate information, in direct contrast to other anti government blogs which essentially fabricate "news stories". Fiji leaks deserves to get across to the maximum number of Fijians, particularly those resident in Fiji and who would be the ones voting in the next elections, now less than 3 years away. You might not know this but Facebook is by far the most popular online platform in Fiji right now. There is a huge number of people who rely exclusively on Facebook for news. No other social networking site even comes close to Facebook in terms of popularity in Fiji... MySpace, Twitter, etc lag far behind in terms of popularity. As much as 50% of the total population and almost 100% of the younger population is hooked onto Facebook. This trend is also due to the fact that Mobile phone companies also run promotions where they provide Facebook access for free. Internet penetration has grown exponentially in yesteryears thanks to the Bainimarama governments emphasis on IT technology and making it affordable/accessible. I advise you to create a fiji leaks page on Facebook and in no time at all it will become extremely popular, thanks to your high quality investigative journalism. That page will do what the mainstream media in Fiji is failing to do and hold the government accountable. Once again, keep up the great work and make fijileaks the number one source of news in fiji. And please make it more balanced too.

Reply
tito
2/1/2015 05:02:14 am

Reddy has really learned well from x-FNU vc and that is dictatorship.

Reply
Jhatu Chand
2/1/2015 07:06:52 pm

Professor Ian Rouse has had a good start as acting FNU vice chancellor. He has been welcomed by all staff. They are relieved that their tormentor Ganesh Chand is finally gone. Sometimes it is best to have an expatriate to head an organisation.

Reply
kito link
4/1/2015 02:23:37 pm

Dr.Reddy you are great keep on doing justice to FNU. Thank you for booting Ganesh Chand. He has demoralized 90% of his own staff. The only people he was favoring was his close relatives and the staff who were willing to sleep with him. He had no mercy for anyone else.

Reply
Teacher
5/1/2015 12:29:31 am

Unfortunately Dr Reddy has now demoralised 90% of the Ministry of Education staff, in particular the senior staff. And like the one he has just booted, he seems to have no mercy for anyone else but himself.

e kuca
2/1/2015 11:26:34 pm

well thats what you get when you vote for FFP....

Reply
Regime supports incompetent bully of a minister
3/1/2015 12:41:58 am

Basundra's withdrawal of her resignation has been rejected. They are afraid of an enquiry as it will fully expose mahen reddy's incompetence and the dysfunctionality of the entire Baini regime. A mahen reddy lackey will be appointed PS.

Reply
Keep The Faith link
3/1/2015 04:24:06 pm

Basundra has been wronged - that is correct. But before we start putting her up on a pedestal as some kind of martyr let us not forget that she was also party to pushing the agenda of the Bainimarama regime particularly prior to the Elections.

She abused her position as Actg PS to advocate for parents and students to join in the Thanksgiving service for the return of the Golan 45?
http://fijiblog.gov.fj/blog/2014/10/1/students-and-parents-encouraged-to-participate-at-thanksgivi.html

And let's not forget who opened the doors to the 18 year olds in schools so that Fiji First could campaign there under the guise of 'government business'.

Reply
Plea to PM
3/1/2015 05:04:48 pm

Plea to PM
Nasik Swami
Sunday, January 04, 2015
FORMER acting permanent secretary for education Basundra Kumar has called on Prime Minister Rear Admiral (Ret) Voreqe Bainimarama to investigate Education Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy's role in her controversial exit from the ministry.

Mrs Kumar, a career civil servant who has spent 26 years in the education sector, said it would only be fair to the education system if the minister was removed since he had no understanding of it.

Yesterday, Dr Reddy refused to respond to Mrs Kumar's comments saying he was "fed-up" of the issue.

"Let her make allegations, she does it all the time, I don't want to know anything," Dr Reddy said.

Revealing her side of the story, Mrs Kumar said she was suspended from her position after returning from a week's leave.

"I informed them (ministry officials) that I would be taking my whole week's leave and that I would resume work again on Tuesday and nobody said anything to me that I was under investigation and that I would be investigated.

"In fact they should have called me in the office and told me 'you will be under investigation' and I would've taken it nicely that there is an investigation against me," Mrs Kumar said.

She said when she arrived home that particular day, a Government vehicle came with her suspension without pay letter and disclosures compiled by the director secondary and the ministry's team.

"I did not see any investigations or any letter from the Public Service Commission saying that as acting permanent secretary I had breaches and I was supposed to be investigated."

She said when she looked at the disclosures she became frustrated as it stated she was suspended indefinitely pending investigation.

"When I looked at the disclosure, I was quite frustrated, I thought, look at the Minister for Education - disciplining and sending me on suspension for no serious problem.

"Was there a need for him to send me home without pay when I had 68 days of leave still pending? If he wanted me to be out of office, he could've sent me on leave - my 26 years of clean record has been tarnished by this minister, it is his propaganda.

"I have worked with him and this is what he was wanting me to do for others but I was objecting and I was telling him to follow the Government disciplinary procedures and not sending people on suspension without any money," she said.

Mrs Kumar said the minister was elected by the people and it was not right for him to interfere with operational matters of the ministry.

She said she resigned as she was frustrated and alleged there was an 'outcry' by ministry officials as the minister was doing things his way and not by consultation.

"Ministry workers are not talking because they fear being victimised by the minister, they fear losing their jobs," Mrs Kumar said.

"This entire disregard to the government procedures and policies was very offensive and I thought this man (minister) is targeting to finish me off," she said.

Mrs Kumar said she decided to withdraw her resignation after comments made to the media by Dr Reddy that her reason to resign was to evade investigation.

"I decided immediately to withdraw my resignation and challenge the minister for a fair and independent investigation.

"In the letter that I have written, I have also said that I also want the minister to be investigated and the minister to be sent out of the office and an investigation be carried out by the Prime Minister and the deputy Prime Minister so that everything surfaces because those officers that are working there in the ministry are under duress and I am very much aware," she said.

"When I looked at the disclosure, I was quite frustrated, I thought, look at the Minister for Education disciplining and sending me on suspension for no serious problem.

"Was there a need for him to send me home without pay when I had 68 days of leave still pending? If he wanted me to be out of office, he could've sent me on leave. My 26 years of clean record have been tarnished by this minister, it is his propaganda.

"I have worked with him and this is what he was wanting me to do for others but I was objecting and I was telling him to follow the Government disciplinary procedures and not sending people on suspension without any money," she said.

Mrs Kumar said the minister was elected by the people and it was not right for him to interfere with operational matters of the ministry.

She said she resigned as she was frustrated and alleged there was an 'outcry' by ministry officials as the minister was doing things his way and not by consultation.

"Ministry workers are not talking because they fear being victimised by the minister, they fear losing their jobs," Mrs Kumar said.

"This entire disregard to the government procedures and policies was very offensive and I thought this man (minister) is targeting to finish me off," she said.

Mrs Kumar said she decided to withdraw her resignation after comments made to the media by Dr R

Reply
dirty tricks
3/1/2015 05:11:49 pm

FIJILEAKS, please highlight the dirty gestapo-like tactics employed by Education Ministry under mahandra reddy, spying on staff, making illegal recordings, and not only that, but circulating it! All this was sanctioned by the minister. Such dirty tactics were evidently honed at FNU with Ganesh Chand and applied at ministry. Regardless of basundar's alleged faults, such tactics are simply immoral, illegal, unethical and uncalled for, especially in a govt department. in any othercountry the minister would be charged and sacked.

Some details are in the following story:

Kumar gives her version
Nasik Swami
Sunday, January 04, 2015
Former acting permanent secretary for the Ministry of Education Basundra Kumar says her indefinite suspension pending investigation was the result of a phone call last October to advise a Nausori school's department head of a teacher's questionable performance.

Mrs Kumar said her daughter, a Form Seven student who failed her mathematics exam, had complained about the knowledge level of their substitute maths teacher.

She explained the phone call made to the HOD was recorded without her knowledge as she was of the view the call was confidential.

"…They (ministry officials) recorded my conversation when I was talking to the HOD — I was exercising my duties as the acting permanent secretary to arrest the problem that was surfacing," Mrs Kumar said.

"My whole conversation was recorded and it was put to circulation, a CD was sent out of the conversation and it was produced to the minister and the minister said to compile a report against me, a petition against me and that was brought to my attention," she said.

Mrs Kumar said she called the minister the following day questioning the recording of the conversation and the circulation of the CD.

"I called the minister the following day and I said 'what is this, minister? You should've spoken to me in person and come to me or you should've discussed the problem with me. Why are you encouraging teachers to write a petition against me'?" she said.

Mrs Kumar said in his response, Dr Reddy said nobody would be demoted.

"…But there was news in the community and somebody came home and told my husband that the minister has promised the teachers that I will be demoted from my position despite telling me there was no demotion.

"The conversation was simply because my daughter was also in Form Seven, she failed her Mathematics and she told me: 'Mum, the teacher in school who is coming to teach, relieving to teach our Form Seven maths, she sits in the classroom and tells us that the ministry has posted her there, but she does not have any subject knowledge'.

"…So I called the HOD and I spoke to him and I said 'what kind of HOD are you that there is a teacher in your department who doesn't know how to teach — have you observed her lessons? Have the students reported to you? Because I have knowledge that my own child has gone and reported to the department earlier that the teacher is not able to deliver in the classroom'," Mrs Kumar said.

She said the matter was already investigated by a team from the ministry sometime in October and there was no outcome. Mrs Kumar said she was not even interviewed during that investigation and was surprised to note another investigation resulting in her indefinite suspension.

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John Sikuri
3/1/2015 07:06:48 pm

http://fijisun.com.fj/2015/01/04/letters-to-the-editor-january-04-2015/

There are two contrasting letters in today's Fiji Sun on the subject that provides two different viewpoints.

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Ashok Kumar link
3/1/2015 08:46:33 pm

As you sow, so shall you reap
Today Basundra is crying for justice after what all has happened to her. She should realise that she was doing the same when she was just DS/PS and Dr.Brij Lal was PS. She would not consult anybody but make her own decision to displace teachers without any major reasons and any official letter. She only used emails to do this. She should have looked far ahead of horizon to see if one day it is done to her,how she would feel. At last god has heard our prayers and she is the victim now. She should just accept it as I accepted her decision in 2012. That day I was crying for justice , today you cry Basundra. Nobody will hear because nobody heard me crying.
for furthur enquiries please use my email.

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basundra
12/9/2015 06:32:19 am

As you sow, so shall you reap.

This is called '"karam-dand". She is receiving her' karam-dand' on this earth. She has been justified by the God. She has taken the food away from the plate of some very poor people like the grasS-cutter of Nausori High School and also the typist there when she was there as Actg Principal. She was the cause of their termination.

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Ratu Apenisa
4/1/2015 12:18:08 am

I beg to differ on the statements made against Dr Reddy. I strongly believe that the steps he is taking to improve the education sectors nation wide is THE BEST steps that could be taken to enhance the fruits of today.

This will help the students of the year to become competitive and thrive to do their best. With all these accusations made to Dr Reddy are irrelevant to the optimistic goal he has. That is;

TO IMPROVE THE EDUCATION SECTORS. HE IS ONLY LOOKING FOR THE BETTER FUTURE OR OUR NATION.

Good and strong education methods should start from scrap. Like a seed needs all the rights nutrients and conditions for germinating is as similar to Dr Reddy intentions.

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Useless and Ego reddy
4/1/2015 04:03:09 am

Please do not go emotional. Reddy is trully rascal and I worked with him. He feels like a god with massive ego. He is better as lecturer or Asst Professor. Luck favoured him to become Dean but he is not qualified and absolutely useless character.

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Ratu Apenisa
4/1/2015 12:48:29 pm

This has nothing to do with being emotional. its about the better future for the students of today. With the freedom of being promoted to upper levels in schools for non performing students with ease will just bring illiterate and not self proclaimed people in our company, who i repeat will work just to do so..

Wheres the nation heading to then?

John Sikuri
4/1/2015 06:38:21 pm

Reddy should learn that he is responsible for policy but that does not include bringing his own preferred personal. There are processes and procedures in place for hiring and firing to ensure transparency and justice.

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davis
5/1/2015 06:45:19 pm

i totally agree

Marcus
9/10/2016 06:34:01 am

What a load of bullshit!! Every person with a brain can see that the mahen is full of shit. His free milk programme is putting millons of $ into rewa dairy whose owner also owens fiji sun. So propaganda is paid in milk. Not by govt but by taxpayers.

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The True Patriot Of Fiji
4/1/2015 12:29:26 am

Sake the Minister and appoint a person who does not demoralizes staff

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Siteri
4/1/2015 01:28:36 am

At this point in time I must applaud hon minister for PSC Mr Khayum for doing justice in the appointment of the most meritorious and deserving candidate Mrs Kelera Taloga as acting PS education. .I believe people of Fiji should know that she was supposed to holding that chair and not self claimed Mrs Basundra who had struggled to complete her degree from USP but speedy and smooth promotions you can guess how ....I also thank Hon Dr Reddy for having a national interest to uplift Fiji's education unlike Mrs Kumar having personal interest of the chair alone...I am urging PM to immediately take court action on this lady for the amount of false damage she has been doing now for the government of the day and this is only to get the chair which she don't even deserve..we itaukei are backing Dr Reddy remember. .we have seen the improvement plans and we salute him...we are educated and we understand who is right and who is wrong..we also heard that lot complaints that went under the carpet at ministry of education Dr Reddy had been following now to give justice to the innocents...

big vinakavakalevu doc...keep moving...clean up..people think the ministry is theirs ..good you have opened their eyes...
all your reform plans in papers are excellent. ..

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useless Reddy
4/1/2015 04:06:27 am

Those who know Reddy personally, can tell you how useless this character is. He should be sacked immediately. The reason is, he need to learn how to deal with people and staff. he dont have any respect for people who work with him and forget the appreciation. Siteri, If remain in ministry for long, things will become real bad.

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babba prasad link
4/1/2015 05:46:49 pm

I support you Siteri. Basundra has set her mind to bring disrepute to the education ministry. she has no respect for this ministry herself. people should take a survey with teachers and get the reality of this corrupt lady.....she demanded sari....expensive alcohols and other favours in return for the favours she did for teachers posting and promotions....higher percentage of teachers will admit that she is a professional corrupt lady.........she can stoop so low for her gain...she played with teachers reputation and tarnished it. not at any cost she should be holding any post especially in education ministry.....its only her click group who are writing positive comments....we have to look at the bigger scenario and we all know she is very dangerous person.

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John Sikuri
4/1/2015 10:50:40 am

The issue is not about who is qualified to be PS nor is it about i taukei vs others. Its simply a matter of following the right procedures..a matter of justice and appropriate protocols in the disciplinary mechanism of the civil service.

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roshan ali link
4/1/2015 05:27:45 pm

Mrs B. Kumar only worked and did favours to her click group.....she is an inconsiderate lady.....she does not show professionalism herself and expects others to respect her....she can stoop so low for her own gain.

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babba prasad link
4/1/2015 05:38:15 pm

I am disappointed to read articles from Basundra........teachers very well know her intentions are not appropriate.....she is determined to destabilize the good work which is undertaken by the current education minister.....majority teachers are in support for change as they are the better people who know whats happening at classroom level....Basundra did lot of favours only to her friends and relatives who are in her inner circle of YES MADAM KINDA ATTITUDE......lot of teachers were abused at her hands and i know they must be all pleased and satisfied they she is no longer in education ministry

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John Sikuri
4/1/2015 06:43:47 pm

Everybody do favors to friends, family and colleagues (no exception). You just have to look at Bainimarama: his brother who is well over retirement age and his daughters being given cushy jobs because of who they are. Aiyaz and Reddy are all in it to the neck..kickbacks and all.

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Concerned Citizen
4/1/2015 06:02:16 pm

It is obvious this is how Mahendra Reddy works. Why hasn't anyone looked at his links with Bobby Maharaj. Some say his mother and Bobby Maharaj's mother are sisters. If this is true, isn't it nepotism. What the is doing at the Ministry, he has obviously done in the past and gotten away with it. So he feels he can do the same again and get away. If he has any dignity, he should gracefully step down.

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boy kumar link
4/1/2015 08:49:10 pm

As a saying goes...what goes around comes around.....this is exactly what has happened to my sister Basundra....known as Basun
Now when its her turn she feels bad. All this while god was watching her. She thought she is the queen and bend everyone and wanted people to dance to her tune. This lady gave lot of teachers sleepless nights with her arrogant ways. She accepted lot of material things from teachers who seeked her help for promotion or transfer. She has few Principals as her informers and as favorites.

Why is she crying now.....she is making excuses that she resigned because she was under stress....my sister Basun, you gave a hell lot of stress to other teachers and if they had resigned would you have accepted their request for withdrawal....... I AM 100 % SURE YOU WOULD HAVE TURNED YOUR DEAF AND BLIND EARS TO THEM...so its your turn now to suffer mad sis.

let the school open and please Fiji Sun do a survey on this sis of mine...BASUN in schools and you will get the best result....all teachers will label my sis as corrupt and only her few members as click group may not go against her.

Even that Jai Narayan is her chamcha......he was a cruel leader.....they have forgotten their days....they used bully ways to weaken teachers....and now he is not able to cope with work at Ministry.

My dear readers of Fiji Leak.......people who are not able to adapt to changes are the ones who will create problems and will try to weaken those who are the agents of change. My sister Basun is one such person.

She needs to be counselled and told that her minders will not be there at all times.....she should fear god and be ready to suffer for all her deeds.

She stooped so low and pasted pads herself and now wants to blame others.

She is current times........RAVAN
MY SISTER, BASUN DOES NOT DESERVE THAT PS OR DPS POST....SHE WILL RUIN THE SYSTEM.

Reply
John Sikuri
5/1/2015 02:07:46 am

Change is inevitable: in fact nothing is permanent in this world but change. Change however needs to be controlled not willy nilly with nepotism to boot.

I don't know and I don't want to know the history of Basudra's service, her leadership style and whatnot. But I am concerned with justice and transparency within the government. If after the proper process she is found guilty, than by all means she deserves to be fired.

Reply
Big Misconceptions In Education
5/1/2015 02:58:52 am

My humble request to the editor of the Fiji leaks. First of all thank you for exposing Ganesh Chand and help in the removal of him from the very important academic chair of our beloved nation. Now the misconception you are having here at the moment is about the education minister and Basundra Kumar. I just want to let you guyz know the truth that the current education minister is on right track in regards to our nose diving education sector. The blunder you guys are making by backing that corrupt lady Basundra. I wish if you guyz can go on streets , to individual homes, to the villages, to the students of Fiji and to the teachers of Fiji the only answer you will currently get is Dr Reddy is doing all the right about the education reform and he has everyones support at the moment. Remember if Fiji leaks really thinks of the betterment of our poor nation and if really you guys are really patriotic enough then please stop showing your support to the wrong people which at this point in time is Basundra Kumar. Whole of Fiji had agreed and applauded and appreciated and welcomed all dr reddys innovative ideas to have a society fully packed with innovative people in future so our plea is to you guyz not to encourage and back corrupt people. If people of Fiji are happy with all the change happening and knowing the fact Basundra didnt want these to happen you guyz look like bunch of fools. You need to get your facts correct before you attack people and Dr Reddy is one of a victim of you guyz.Remember little knowledge is dangerous and so at the moment Fiji leaks is having little knowledge on the reality of the education system of Fiji. In regards to Basundra kumar no teachers are supporting her and the outright cry of the public and teachers on her is very much evident. We all are happy when we heard that PSC had suspended her. There are other lot of corrupt things which Fiji leaks don't know about her. Taking bribery. Go to jacks Nasouri ask them how many clothes of her teacher's have went and paid in advance and was delivered to Basundras home just for their promotions and job as we itaukies only watch the fun happening. All these we hear from our indo fijian brothers and sisters once their job is done. We also heard that Basundra proposed Dr Reddy on his phone writing that she loves him a lot and promised that she will make him a good minister if she gets her chair. I heard that text message went to PSC chairman where she again breached another code of public service code of ethics and I believe these are few of the many reasons she must have got suspended by PSC. People of Fiji and Fiji leaks should know the reality behind the scene. One must not stop bark when you really don't know the whole scenario out of it and exactly what Fiji leaks is doing at the moment. Fiji leaks would have got all credit and appreciation if you guys would have contributed and exposed this double face lady helped in her removal from the education system but instead as usual again you guys failed and stood at the wrong side of the river may be due to some other personal agendas. If you guys really mean business and are really patriotic about our poor Fiji then yes do not put wrong information about people who really cared about our poor nation.our education no government has improved. This is the first democratic government who thought otherwise and rightfully decided the best person hon Dr Reddy who can do wonders. I salute the hon PM Mr Bainimarama and Minister for PSC hon Shaiyad khaiyum for an excellent decision and for that I would say wow!!!!! bravo!! For choosing the minister of this caliber to improve the poor education of Fiji. And finally I urge the hon PM to immediately intervene and deal and take legal action on this corrupt lady Basundra Kumar who went into public openly to bring disrepute to this government. We cant sacrifice our education on the false cry of this corrupt lady. A lady who only gave importance to her chair and salary and promotions and never thought and cared about our poor education . Lot of things in our education are on pilot basis. Every year education officers decide to bring new methods and pilot on our poor kids. They never realized that how bad effect it is giving on our poor kids. Nobody has ever realized on behalf of our poor kids about its effect on our poor kids from the time Dr Reddy gave directive no more pilot things on kids.when we read in papers about some of the changes he wants to bring so our kids become more innovative it has brought smiles to our faces and we started to look forward that one our own kid will be smart too. Currently our kids lack recalling abilities because brain storming is no longer happening in schools. Teachers sleep in schools and sit and teach , this is a big failure by our own curriculum unit and Basundra Kumar. School buildings are on deteriorating conditions, toilets are health hazards now that many kids are asking teachers to use their convenienc

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Dalip Chand
5/1/2015 04:37:53 pm

I happen to come from the same village and primary school as Ganesh and Bisundra,of course senior to them.
Now,what shall I comment?A very sad state of affair,hope god guides all in the safer direction.

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God have mercy
6/1/2015 07:27:34 am

God shall bless people.

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Yep
7/1/2015 09:04:10 pm

I am naturally inclined to feel a deep sense of empathy for anyone who has been wronged especially anyone wronged by State authorities. But I can't bring myself to feel that way for people who joined the BainimaramaKhaiyum to feather their own nest and were subsequently dumped.

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Saheb
1/4/2015 07:21:06 pm

Basundra should be investigated for her wrong doings. I can remember vividly how many bottles of Liquor my cousin's daughter in law had to give Basundra so that does not get transferred from Nausori to interior village schools. Can also some one raise it LOUD how Basundra's brother in law Master Shiu Dayal Sharma got promotions (Basundra’s husband’s sister is Shiu Dayal Sharma’s wife) He got promotions before he got qualification. I still don’t believe that he has all required qualifications. Just look at the trend of this guy's promotions and you will see favouritism. Shiu Dayal never got into real teaching but has only devoted his time singing filthy sakhis in Bhajan competitions. He is a very bad role model for kids any way.

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Rusi
4/12/2015 03:55:55 am

Who is better to lead Fiji? An Indigenous Fijian or Kaidia? Remember the kaivitis are good in gunu yaqona, tabusili, vei ca I without sili like animals se kaidia after eating kari, sili savata na baku and then rabacaka so make a choice now...:)

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