Teachers’ body says 1.6K staff dead, seeks ₹1 cr relief each
The government has previously disputed the numbers
Claiming that 1621 government school staff succumbed to Covid-19 contracted while on duty during the Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections and the subsequent counting of votes, the Uttar Pradeshiya Prathamik Shikshak Sangh (a teachers’ association) has demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the next of kin of the deceased. The elections were held on April 15, 19, 26 and 29. The counting of votes was taken up on May 2.
The government has previously disputed the numbers. “We had asked all the 75 district magistrates to submit reports of teachers engaged in election duty and died during election duty. We will be able to tabulate all the data by the end of the day (Monday). The matter is already in the court as teachers’ association has given their representation,” said Additional chief secretary (panchayati raj) Manoj Kumar Singh.
Additionally, the state’s literal application of its compensation policy may mean that the families of even those who did contract Covid-19 during election duty and died, may not be eligible for compensation.
“As per the Election Commission of India rules, if polling is scheduled on April 10, then teachers who are engaged on poll duty report a day before (April 9) in the district and leave the duty place the next day (April 11). If anything untoward happens during these three days, it will be considered as death on poll duty. But if a teacher did election duty on April 10, tested positive on April 20 and succumbed on April 24, it will not be considered as death on election duty. Likewise, when the police enter the district for poll duty and leave the district, that period is considered as poll duty. For the paramilitary force, the duty starts at the time they enter the state and duty ends when they leave the state,” explained Singh.
In a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the teachers’ association president Dinesh Chandra Sharma named all 1621 government school staff, their schools, districts, the dates of death and their mobile numbers.
The list includes those who succumbed to the coronavirus disease between the first week of April and May 16, two weeks
after the counting day.
Out of these 1621 govt school staff, 1332 were teachers, 209, shiksha mitras (assistant teachers), 25,anudeshaks (instructors), five, block education officers, 15, clerks and 35, other employees, Sharma said.
He claimed that 706 staffers of the basic education department died by the third round of panchyat elections (April 26). This number crossed 1600 by the fourth round and after two weeks of counting .
He claimed Covid-19 protocols were overlooked both during polling and at the time of counting of ballots.
In support of the demand for monetary relief, he said the Allahabad high court has observed that the government to consider giving compensation of Rs 1 crore.
Sharma alleged that pictures and video footage of counting day show Covid-19 protocol and guidelines being brazenly ignored at most places and said the district administration failed to implement social distancing during counting. This was against the assurances given by them in the Supreme Court, he added.
The Election Commission of India has increased the compensation to Rs 30 lakh following the Covid-19 pandemic but there has been no revision of the number to be considered as polling duty days, Singh said, admitting that “at some places, the Covid-19 protocol was defied.”
Minister of state (independent charge) for basic education Satish Chandra Dwivedi said, “I agree that some government school staff may have contracted infection during poll duty and succumbed to Covid-19 subsequently. But every week, the association is coming up with inflated numbers.”
“There’s no specific audit done by basic education department
about the number of deaths How do we know that teachers were already not infected when they came for election duty? And how do we know that teachers did not get infected after election duty?”
Additional chief secretary (basic education) Renuka Kumar said, “I have not received any letter from the teachers’ association and so I will not be able to make any comment on the issue.”
Sharma said that in a meeting on May 1 chief secretary RK Tiwari gave assurances that teachers who were not well would not be deployed for counting duty, but that authorities initiated action against teachers who did not turn up for counting due to poor health.
The association said no government official or minister has so far condoled the deaths of government school staff.
The association further alleged that despite being allowed to work from home, primary school teachers in various districts, including Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Banda, Basti and Hardoi, were
being deployed at integrated Covid control rooms which was a threat to their health.
Besides compensation of Rs 1 crore, the association has demanded that family members of deceased teachers be given jobs in schools, the state government withdraw all departmental action against teachers who were not available for election duty for any reason; and basic teachers not be deployed for any non-educational work, including at Covid control rooms.
Prof Manoj Dixit, former vice chancellor of Dr RML Awadh University, Faizabad (Ayodhya), said, “If a government employee is on election duty it should be treated as government duty. And every death that has happened due to direct and indirect role in elections due to Covid-19 should be duly compensated. No trivial explanations are desired.”
The allegation that hundreds teachers on panchayat poll duty in Uttar Pradesh died due to Covid-19 has led to a political controversy. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra posted a series of tweets on the issue recently, prompting Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Sidharth Nath Singh to hit back.
The husbands of two women teachers who were assigned poll duty have alleged that their spouses were not exempted despite being pregnant, with the result that they contracted Covid-19 while at work and died.
Kalyani Agrahari, 27, a teacher of Composite Vidyalaya, Oina in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, who was eight months’ pregnant, submitted an application to the state election commission to relieve her from poll duty due to “critical pregnancy”, said her husband Deepak Chand.
Likewise, Sangeeta Singh, 33, assistant teacher in a composite school in Dikra village at Shravasti district, was four months’ pregnant. She was carrying twins, according to an ultrasound report. Yet she was not exempted from election duty, alleged her husband Shashank Singh.
He said he lost his wife before their first wedding anniversary on June 14.