Bihar teachers in 2 districts die of Covid-19 amid financial crisis

Teachers union alleges that the Bihar government had put them at additional risk of contracting Covid-19 disease apart from leaving them vulnerable by not paying their salaries on time.

Covid-19 has claimed the lives of 24 government school teachers in the two districts of East and West Champaran in Bihar during the second wave of the pandemic so far, data compiled by the education department shows. The primary teacher’s union and the kin said they had no money to arrange proper treatment of the deceased, who had not received their salaries for the last four months.

10 teachers in Bihar’s East Champaran died due to Covid-19 in the month of April and 12 others succumbed in May. Representative Photo

“Most of them were contractual teachers, who died due to the financial crisis. For the last four months, contractual teachers have not received their salaries,” said Amardeep Kumar, president of Bihar Panchayat Nagar Prarambhik Shikshak Sangh, East Champaran-- a union of district’s primary school teachers.

10 teachers in East Champaran died due to Covid-19 in the month of April and 12 others succumbed in May, while the remaining two deaths were reported from West Champaran, confirmed Binod Kumar Vimal, district education officer, East Champaran.

Family of Upendra Kumar, headmaster at Chakayi Tola primary school in Pakaridayal, said non-payment of salaries was a major factor behind his death.

“We were unable to meet the medical expenses of private health services. There were no beds available in government hospitals,” said Neeraj Paswan, son of Upendra Kumar, who died on April 24.

The district programme officer (establishment) of the education department in East Champaran, Praful Kumar Mishra said the department’s hands were tied in absence of funds due to which the teachers, both regular and contractual, were last paid 80% of their January salary. “We are waiting for the funds for the allocation of salary from February onwards,” said Mishra, adding that the salary gets paid out as soon as the funds arrive.

Another official in the department said on condition of anonymity that most of the time, the fund allotment is not only late but also below the entitlement for full payment of salaries.

Upendra Kumar’s son said the financial crunch made his father consult quacks after the symptoms of coronavirus first appeared. “For the first few days, my father had to depend upon unqualified rural healthcare consultants. When his condition did not improve, we took him to the government hospital but could not get him admitted there,” said Neeraj, a school van driver, who claims to be penniless.

“Getting treated at a private hospital was out of question given the kind of financial problems our family suffers from,” he said when asked why his father was not taken to a private hospital for treatment.

The civil surgeon of the district said he couldn’t respond to claims if Upendra Kumar was denied admission at a government hospital in the district. “We are admitting patients and providing them with treatment as and when [they are] brought to the hospital,” Akhileshwar Prasad Singh said.

Ravi Shankar Thakur, a contractual teacher posted at a government school at Binwaliya in Areraj sub division of the district said they get a salary of about ₹28,000 or thereabouts. “It makes it difficult to make ends meet and the late payment of salary further aggravates the problem.”

An office bearer of the district teachers’ association alleged that the state government had put these teachers at additional risk of contracting the virus.

“Even though the state government has shut educational institutions till May 15, teachers were required to be present at the school on rotation basis, which increased the risk of infection,” said Jai Prakash Singh, vice president of the primary teachers’ association in the district.

District officials are at a loss to explain the deaths of these 24 teachers. “The compilation of details is still underway,” said the district education officer (DEO) of East Champaran.

The vice president of the primary teachers’ union has demanded a compensation of ₹50 lakh for the families of deceased teachers, besides a job for one of the dependents.