MORE than 1,600 teachers in India died from Covid-19 weeks after their polling duty between April and May.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, schools in India remained closed, therefore hundreds of thousands of government teachers were asked to monitor polling booths as some states across the country held elections.
A letter to work in the Uttar Pradesh panchayat election arrived at Suman Lata’s house in Mathura. Her family begged to refuse the summons. Being the breadwinner of her family, Lata feared losing her jobs.
Two weeks after her poll duty, Lata died from Covid-19.
“She asked if she could be excused, but the officers said, ‘if you are not sick, you have to do your duty,” said Lata’s 25-year-old son, Vaibhav Agarwal.
“She called to tell us the facilities were really bad,” Agarwal said. She was not provided with hand sanitiser, gloves, or any other protective equipment, he said. “She was our mother, she provided everything for us, money won’t bring her back.”
Swati Gupta, a 32-year-old teacher, fell sick days after attending election training in early April, said her cousin, Amit Kumar Gupta.
“She had written an application to the district magistrate and state election commission to relieve her from duty due to poor health, but no reply was received,” he said.
She later tested positive for Covid and died before the polling date.
The Uttar Pradeshiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh teachers’ union wrote several times to the state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, asking for the polls to be postponed, but it said it got no response.
“These deaths could have been avoided if the elections were postponed but the government never paid heed,” said Sanjay Singh, the union’s general secretary.
“The least they could do now is give compensation to every family.”
A state government suggestion it might provide compensation for teachers it recognises died after contracting Covid on polling duty has done little to ease the anger over its refusal to postpone the vote.
From desks to dreams: A journey of girls’ empowerment