Two more Delhi teachers succumb to Covid-19, others demand protective gear

The municipal corporation teachers association in Delhi said that as many as 150 of their teachers have tested positive for Covid-19 till date.

A 57-year-old principal of a Delhi government school and a 48-year-old English teacher have succumbed to Covid-19 in less than a week, leading to growing anxiety and demands for protective gear — Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits, masks and gloves — among government and municipal teachers, who are the frontline of the city’s battle against Covid-19.

A teacher wears a black bands as a mark of protest for not getting salaries from last two months, at MCD School, in Model Basti, Rani Jhasi Road in New Delhi on May 20, 2020. (Burhaan Kinu/HT File Photo)

Earlier, in May this year municipality teacher and a security guard working at a ration distribution centre had succumbed to the virus. So far, Delhi has witnessed 36,824 cases of the virus with 1,214 deaths.

On Thursday, Ompal Singh, principal of a government in Kalyanpuri, died after getting infected with Covid-19. Shyam Lal, vice-principal of the school, said that Singh was supervising the cooked food distribution at his school since April. “He was admitted to GTB hospital on June 5, after he was finding it difficult to breathe. He succumbed to the virus on Thursday. His family members, including his 12-day-old grandson, have also tested positive now. There is a lot of panic among teachers working at the food distribution centres in our school,” he said.

On June 8, an English teacher, Shivaji Mishra, who was employed at a government school in Kalyan Niwas had died of Covid-19. Mishra, 48, was also working at a food distribution centre. His son Piyush Mishra said that his father developed symptoms of Covid-19 around June 1. “On June 2 his condition worsened and we took him to a private hospital in Mandoli. He tested positive for Covid last Thursday, following which the hospital asked us to shift him to a Covid designated hospital. We shifted him to Safdurjaung hospital on Friday, where he was shifted to ICU. He succumbed on Sunday,” he said.

Ajay Veer Singh, general secretary of the government school teachers association, said that more than 400 government school teachers on Covid duty have tested positive for the deadly virus in the last two months. “The government needs to help their families and provide them with jobs since they got infected while on duty. We also demand safety gear for the teachers working at the food and ration distribution centres,” he said.

Delhi Education minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, on Friday said that the government was working to release ex-gratia for the families of Singh and Mishra. “My salute to the teachers of Delhi who are writing history through their selfless service in our fight against Covid-19. My heart goes out to the grieving families of Ompal Singh & Shivji Mishra who lost their lives. Delhi Govt. is working to release ex-gratia immediately,” he said in a tweet.

A senior official at the Directorate of Education (DoE) said the government is providing masks and PPEs wherever required. “We are still collecting details of teachers who have tested positive and were on Covid relief work. We will also send a proposal to the finance department seeking monetary relief for the families of teachers who have succumbed to the virus,” said the official.

The municipal corporation teachers association said that as many as 150 of their teachers have tested positive for Covid-19 till date. Ramnivas Solanki, president of the association, said, “The Delhi government has already announced relief of Rs 1 crore to MCD teachers who die of Covid-19. But there should be safety gear for all the teachers working at ration distribution centres so that we don’t have any other casualties,” he said.

Officials at the civic bodies said that their teachers are engaged in Delhi government’s relief work and they should be provided the title of “Covid warriors”. Avatar Singh, mayor of the north civic body, said, “The government should also provide health insurance to these teachers so that they do not feel insecure while working at relief centres.”

A senior government official said “Every possible help is provided to the teachers on Covid duty. All government officials are working selflessly amid the pandemic.”