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Telangana CM announces ₹2k, 25kg rice for pvt teachers
Hyderabad The Telangana government has decided to extend financial assistance of ₹2,000 in cash and 25 kg of rice free of cost every month to all teachers and non-teaching staff members of various recognised private schools in the state, who had lost their livelihood during the ongoing coronavirus disease (Covid-9) pandemic
Hyderabad
The Telangana government has decided to extend financial assistance of ₹2,000 in cash and 25 kg of rice free of cost every month to all teachers and non-teaching staff members of various recognised private schools in the state, who had lost their livelihood during the ongoing coronavirus disease (Covid-9) pandemic.
While the decision was announced by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao during an official review meeting on Thursday, the modalities of identification of beneficiaries and distribution of cash and rice to them were discussed at a video-conference held by school education minister Sabita Indra Reddy on Friday.
An official release from the chief minister’s office said nearly 1.50 lakh teachers and non-teaching staff members of various recognised private schools had lost their livelihood due to closure of the educational institutions during the pandemic.
The schools were forced to shut down again from March 24, nearly 50 days after their reopening following 10 months of closure due to the pandemic. The decision to close down the schools again was taken following a steady increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the last few weeks.
The official release said the chief minister has taken a decision to provide some monetary relief and rice to teachers and non-teaching staff of private schools on humanitarian grounds. The assistance will continue till the reopening of all the educational institutions, the CMO release added.
The education minister, who, along with state backward classes welfare minister Gangula Kamalakar and principal advisor to the government Dr Rajiv Sharma, held a video conference with all district collectors on Friday, said the beneficiaries will be identified between April 10 and 15.
“The details of the beneficiary private school teachers and other staff members will be verified between April 16 and 19; and the money will be credited to their bank accounts between April 20 and 24,” Reddy said.
The minister added that the beneficiaries will be supplied with 25 kg of rice each immediately. “The scheme will be in force till all the private schools are reopened after the coronavirus pandemic subsides,” Reddy added.
Welcoming the initiative, Telangana Recognised School Managements’ Association thanked the chief minister for announcing cash assistance and free rice supply for the private school staff. “The teachers and other employees of private schools have been going through worst financial crisis in the last one year and many of them are not in a position to buy even groceries. This initiative will help them at least to some extent,” association president Y Shekhar Rao said.
He, however, added that there were nearly 2.20 lakh teachers and non-teaching staff members in the private schools in both recognised and unrecognised schools and all of them should be given the assistance. He requested the government to enhance the cash assistance to ₹ 5,000 per month.
Meanwhile, All India Congress Committee spokesman Dasoju Sravan described the announcement as election gimmick, aimed at appeasing the teachers ahead of the bypoll to Nagarjunasagar assembly seat.
“What was KCR doing for the last one year, when the private teachers were suffering from lack of salaries? At least 10 teachers committed suicide in the recent past owing to financial crisis. Moreover, what about private college lecturers who have also not been getting their salaries for the last one year? What KCR is offering to the teachers is just an eye-wash,” Sravan said.
