School teachers in Dhanbad protest deputation at burial gounds and burning ghats

By PTI
DHANBAD: Primary schools teachers in Dhanbad are on the boil over deputation at burial grounds and burning ghats as nodal officers for disposal of the bodies, including those of the COVID victims.

Nirsa block development officer (BDO) Vikash Kumar Rai has issued a notification deploying 30 teachers of the government primary schools at different burial grounds and cremation sites of the block as nodal officers.

BDO in his notice has said it is responsibility of the nodal officer to ensure free of cost last rites of the people dying of coronavirus.

“If any COVID victim’s body comes for the last rites, nodal officers would have to make proper arrangement for burning or burial. In case of violation of the order, action would be taken under different sections of the Disaster Management Act,” said Vikash Kumar Rai BDO.

Primary school teachers body is up on the arms against the order.

A teacher said that under Right To Education (RTE) no non-teaching work should be taken from the school teachers.

Moreover, neither the state government nor the district education department have issued any directive for placing teachers at burial places and cremation spots.

Teachers body said deployment of teachers at the burning ghats would directly hit online classes of students under progress in the government schools.

Jharkhand State Primary Teachers Association president Brijendra Choubey and and its general secretary Ram Murti Thakur said in this pandemic situation teachers are not escaping from their responsibility albeit eager to discharge duty but want social security for the dangerous work.

“Since teachers have been deployed at most of the infection vulnerable points across the state and we have been demanding government to declare them frontline workers and provide security cover.

“Even Rs 50 lakh insurance cover has not been given but teachers have been deployed for the last rites of the COVID victims”, said president and general secretary of teachers body.

Dhanbad is among the districts badly hit by the COVID second surge.

It reported two fatalities and 193 positive cases in the last 24 hours.

The district has a total caseload of 14,807 since the outbreak of coronavirus, while death toll there stands at 356.