Over 1000 teachers on UP panchayat poll duty died of Covid-19

More than one thousand primary and upper primary school teachers lost battle to Covid while being on duty in the recently concluded panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The claim was made by the Uttar Pradeshiya Prathamik Shikshak Sangh, a representative body of the teachers in the state.

''We have lost more than one thousand teachers, who were engaged in poll related duties in the panchayat elections,'' said Surendra Yadav, joint general secretary of the organisation.

While speaking to DH over phone on Thursday, Yadav said that the Sangh was ''collecting information about the dead from different parts in the state and the number may rise further''.

The Sangh has sent a list of 706 teachers, who, it claimed, had died during the polls, to UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, he said. ''We will soon send a revised list to him,'' Yadav added.

He rued that despite their repeated requests to the state government and the Election Commission (EC), panchayat polls were held. ''Covid 19 protocols were blatantly violated during the polls and ultimately so many of our colleagues lost their lives,'' he said.

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Yadav said that the Sangh had demanded a compensation of Rs, 50 lakh to each of the kin of the deceased.

An education department official, however, said that the government had no information about the death of so many teachers during the panchayat poll duty.

The Allahabad high court had also rapped the Election Commission (EC) for failing to ensure adherence to the guidelines during the panchayat polls and issued notices to UP State Election Commission to explain as to why it failed in checking non compliance of Covid guidelines.

The court had also asked the SEC to explain why action may not be taken against it and its officials for the failure and to prosecute those responsible for such violations.