Team Goemkarponn
CANACONA: A day-long high-voltage protest at the Canacona ADEI office ended in victory for parents and students of Government Primary School (GPS) Ziltawadi on Wednesday, after the Director of Education (DoE) withdrew the controversial transfer order of teacher Sukanti T. Velip.
The agitation began early in the morning, with parents and students arriving before the ADEI office opened, fulfilling their earlier threat of staging a sit-in if the transfer order was not cancelled. Joined by Congress leaders Janardhan Bhandari, Gaspar Coutinho, Ursila D’Costa, and others, the GPS Ziltawadi PTA—led by Chairman Pradeep Gaunkar—marched into the office and demanded answers from ADEI Natasha Guarda.
Parents rejected ADEI’s appeal to submit their grievance in writing, insisting instead on knowing how the transfer order of teacher Sukanti Velip was issued. With the situation escalating, ADEI contacted DoE Shailesh R. Sinai Zingde, who initially assured that the teacher would not be relieved until after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) period and that the order would be withdrawn thereafter. However, parents refused to accept verbal assurances and demanded written confirmation, which the ADEI said she was not authorised to provide.
As the protest intensified, floor mats were brought in for children who sat on the office floor, some eventually dozing off as the hours passed. ADEI forwarded photos of the sit-in to the DoE, seeking further instructions.
Amid rising tension, Congress leader Janardhan Bhandari received a phone call from DoE Zingde, who reiterated that the transfer would indeed be withdrawn, but argued that the formal order could only be issued after the ZP election day due to MCC restrictions. When questioned on how the transfer was issued during the election period, Zingde claimed the order was dated 28 November, a day before MCC kicked in—an explanation Bhandari dismissed as “pre-dated,” saying the order reached Canacona only three days prior.
Even as negotiations stalled, former Minister and Ex-Dy Speaker/Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes and CMC Councillor Shubham Komarpant arrived at the ADEI office and spoke to the officials. Fernandes personally contacted the Chief Minister, who assured him that the order would be cancelled by 4 pm. Fernandes later thanked the CM for his “quick intervention.”
True to the assurance, by Wednesday evening the Director of Education issued an order dated 10-12-2025, officially withdrawing the earlier transfer order (dated 28-11-2025) of teacher Sukanti T. Velip. The withdrawal came in the wake of the children’s sit-in protest and mounting public pressure. Parents had alleged that the original transfer was an act of political vendetta.
The ADEI, along with her colleague, handed over a copy of the withdrawal order to the protesting students in the presence of their parents. With their demands met, the parents and students vacated the premises, calling off their sit-in.
