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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | When hunger doesn’t go on vacation -Ishita Mishra

When hunger doesn’t go on vacation -Ishita Mishra

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published Published on May 27, 2015   modified Modified on May 27, 2015
-The Times of India

AGRA: The Uttar Pradesh mid-day meal authority's decision to extend the vital service to students of 58 drought-hit districts even during the summer vacation has hit an unlikely roadblock: teachers. This in essence jeopardizes the well-being of lakhs of school-going children in districts declared 'drought-hit' in 2014. Many of these regions also bore the brunt of unseasonal rains in March, sparking a spate of suicides.

The opposition, if successful, will likely affect a large number of poor students. There are some 60 lakh students in UP schools. Even the smaller districts have at least 50,000 students enrolled in primary and upper primary schools.

On their part, teachers have said that they work throughout the year and are also assigned additional jobs during elections. And to expect them to work even during the summer break is "a bit too much".

The UP Primary Teachers' Association and Junior High School Teachers' Association on Friday submitted a memorandum with the district magistrate and the Basic Shikhsa Adhikari, Lucknow, requesting officials to exclude teachers from the initiative. Similar demonstrations were staged in Mathura, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Etah and various other cities and towns across the state.

Akhilesh Sharma of the Junior High School Teachers' Association said the ruling government was exploiting teachers. "Meal distribution during the summer break will only add to the woes of government teachers who are already struggling to fulfill additional tasks such as Samajwadi Pension distribution duty and doubling up as block-level officers ahead of elections," he said on Friday.

Sharma also doubted if children would make it to school in the sweltering heat for a meal. "No student showed up on Friday when the temperature touched 45 degrees. But teachers were forced to come at 7.30 in the morning to prepare the meal and wait for the children till 12. Government should make policies that work, this one looks like it will only ruin the holidays for teachers," he added.

Sudhanshu Mohan, the head of Junior High School Teachers' Association, Lucknow, said he would boycott the plan. Pradeep Singh from UP Primary Teacher's Association, Lucknow, agreed. "Sarkar ko itni hi daya hai gareebo pe to poore gaon ko bhojan de. Sirf bachchon ko kyun? Hum taiyyar hain desh ke hit mein kaam karne ke liye, magar zyaadti ke liye nahi (If the government is so concerned about the poor, it should provide food to entire villages, why just children? We are willing to work for the country but we can't tolerate highhandedness)," Singh said.

RP Mishra, state secretary and spokesperson of Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh, said that government should make separate arrangements and allow teachers to go on leave. "The food and other responsibilities can be shouldered by village headmen," he said.


The Times of India, 24 May, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/When-hunger-doesnt-go-on-vacation/articleshow/47401933.cms


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