760 Bihar government teachers fall to Covid-19, families face financial crisis

Meanwhile, TET-STET Qualified Teachers’ Association has demanded insurance coverage up to ₹50 lakh, family pension and compassionate appointment for all 3.5 lakh teachers appointed on contract basis.

After Mrityunjay Pandey (42), a government school teacher in Bihar’s West Champaran district, succumbed to Covid-19 last week, his family had to take a loan to pay the hospital bills and raise money through crowd funding for his last rites, HT has learnt. Not just that, Pandey’s younger brother Aman, a civil service aspirant, has now decided to give up his dream since he needs to sustain the family.

Bihar State Primary Teachers’ Association (BSPTA) has claimed that at least 760 government school teachers and librarians have died due to Covid, (Representative Photo)

Neeru Kumari, a resident of Nalanda district, is also struggling to sustain her two kids after her husband’s demise on May 9. “My husband Santosh Kumar was a primary school teacher. After his death, survival has become very difficult. I have no source of income and there is no one in my family to take care of us,” she said.

Bihar State Primary Teachers’ Association (BSPTA) has claimed that at least 760 government school teachers and librarians have died due to Covid, battling the second wave of the disease between March and May.

“The highest number of teachers’ deaths has been recorded in Patna, West Champaran, Banka and Nawada districts, where more than 30 teachers have died in each district. We request the state government to immediately provide the promised assistance to help the families sustain,” said Chandra Prakash, media-incharge of BSPTA.

He added that the families of teachers who died last year due to Covid-19 are still knocking at the doors of government offices to claim the promised ex-gratia relief and compassionate appointment. “Paper work at snail’s pace mounts trouble for the bereaved families,” he added.

The association also sought the status of frontline Covid-19 warrior for all government teachers and demanded for their vaccination on a priority basis.

Giriwar Dayal Singh, director of secondary education, said, “All district education officers have been asked to compile death records of teachers. We initiated the survey in the first week of May but the collected information was not sufficient to ascertain the total death figure”.

Sanjay Kumar, additional chief secretary of state education department, said, “Dependents of all those teachers who have died of Covid-19 are entitled to claim an ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh.”

Meanwhile, TET-STET Qualified Teachers’ Association has demanded insurance coverage up to ₹50 lakh, family pension and compassionate appointment for all 3.5 lakh teachers appointed on contract basis, who are serving schools under the Panchayati Raj Institution and urban local bodies.

Markanday Pathak, state president of the association, said, “The government discriminates between regular teachers and contractual teachers. The latter is deprived of special benefits, family pension and insurance coverage. We have been deployed in community kitchens, vaccination centres and containment zones, risking our lives. But when it comes to our rights, the government simply disowns us”.

“Recently, Delhi and Mumbai announced financial assistance of ₹1 crore and ₹50 lakh respectively to the families of teachers, who died of Covid-19. However, the Bihar government has not announced any increase in the ex-gratia amount for teachers, despite engaging them in Covid-19 duties,” said Ashwini Pandey, spokesperson of the association.