‘AT LEAST 700 GOVT SCHOOL STAFF DIED ON POLL DUTY’

LUCKNOW : At least 700 state government school employees on panchayat poll duty succumbed to Covid in Uttar Pradesh this month, the state teachers’ union said on Friday, underlining the risk of flouting Covid norms during a devastating surge in infections. In letters to CM Yogi Adityanath and the SEC, the Uttar Pradeshiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh has listed the names of all deceased and said they were infected during training and poll duty.

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday demanded that the Uttar Pradesh government provide financial support and government job to dependents of employees who died due to coronavirus while on panchayat poll duty.

The four-phase panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh ended on Thursday. Employee associations have been alleging that several people on poll duty have succumbed to the coronavirus disease.

In a tweet in Hindi targeting the state government, Mayawati said, “It would have been better if the government had postponed panchayat polls and extended its date due to the rising cases of coronavirus. It would have prevented a number of deaths of employees on election duty. It is very sad.”

“The government should provide proper financial help to dependent family members of all such deceased employees and also give a government job to one of them,” she said.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also said that there was a possibility of the virus spreading in villages.

“Now there is a possibility of Covid-19 outbreak and its spread in the villages. In such a situation, the UP government should take necessary steps to prevent coronavirus spread in cities as well as in villages,” she added.

MAYAWATI SAID IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF THE GOVERNMENT HAD POSTPONED PANCHAYAT POLLS DUE TO THE RISING CASES OF CORONAVIRUS