Mr. Nara Lokesh, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) General Secretary, wrote to Mr. Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.)
In the letter, Mr. Nara Lokesh urged the State Chief Minister to extend financial support to teachers of private schools. It is to be noted, due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, teachers at private schools are suffering a financial crisis. In regard to this, the opposition TDP expressed concerns and asked the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) Government to extend their support.
In the letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Lokesh stressed on the need for financial assistance to teachers, giving examples of the Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other state governments, which extended support and helped teachers working at private hospitals. The Telangana Government, the Karnataka Government, the Tamil Nadu Government announced financial assistance of Rs. 2,000 and ration for private teachers in their respective states. Nara Lokesh asked the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Government to extend similar support to help private teachers to survive the pandemic. Schools and educational institutions have been shut since the first lockdown, which was imposed in 2020 March. While government school teachers were provided financial aid from the State Government, private school teachers were helpless. Many school principals and teachers of private schools were even forced to sell vegetables and fruits on the streets to survive.
Emphasising on the need of financial assistance, Mr. Nara Lokesh highlighted incidents of suicide and said, due to the pandemic situation crisis, dozens of private teachers committed suicide. The letter read, “It is deeply distressing to note that, on the day schools reopened in AP, a teacher couple running a private school in Koilkuntla committed suicide. They buckled under pressure from money lenders. How many more such incidents must happen before the AP government takes meaningful action? There are more than 12,000 private schools in AP, providing employment to nearly 1.25 lakh teachers.”
Mr. Lokesh said, many teachers were reportedly receiving only 60-70 % of their salaries and many were fired without any future assurity.
Concluding his letter, the TDP leader asked for immediate action and assistance from the Government.
Mango News Link
Telegram: https://t.me/mangonewsofficial
Google Play Store: https://bit.ly/2R4cbgN
Apple / iOS Store: https://apple.co/2xEYFJ
