TDP state president and Tekkali MLA Kinjarapu Atchannaidu today wrote an open letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in which he flayed the latter for "neglecting" the private school teachers of the state, and for not providing to them a Covid-19 relief package.
In his letter, the MLA argued that teachers played a key role in shaping students into upright citizens of India and that this made their role in taking the country forward immense. He then said that despite this, the teachers in AP were facing severe "survival problems" due to the impact the ongoing pandemic had had on their livelihoods.
"More than 5 lakh teaching and non-teaching employees working in private schools are suffering since the pandemic has led to the closure of schools. They are facing pecuniary difficulties due to the lack of salaries. As a result, some have had to find work as vegetable sellers, cobblers, or construction workers simply to eke out a meagre livelihood. The YSR Congress Party government has failed miserably in supporting the employees of private schools," he alleged.
The TDP bigwig also said that the state government had "ignored" private school teachers since the first wave of Covid-19 gripped AP last year, and claimed, "159 private school teachers have died so far due to the absolute and condemnable lack of support from the government in the face of livelihood loss. Why is it that the CM is still not addressing their plight?"
"It is unfortunate that the Jagan government has not shown any interest in strengthening the education system of the state. Where neighbouring Telangana has been
distributing 25 kg of rice along with Rs 2,000 monetary assistance to all the eligible private school teachers in order to support them, our government has done nothing of the sort. I demand that the AP government too support the teachers by giving out a monthly stipend of Rs 10,000 as part of a Covid-19 relief package," he added.
Atchannaidu then appealed to the government to provide interest-free loans and employment opportunities in public sector companies to those who needed jobs.