Taking exception to only teachers being included in teams formed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, former Minister Basavaraj Horatti has shot off a letter to Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar.
In his letter, which was released to the media here, Mr. Horatti has drawn the attention of the Chief Secretary towards the latter’s circular dated March 26 pertaining to constituting 100 primary teams to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Move welcome
While welcoming the move to constitute the teams, which he said was relevant, Mr. Horatti pointed out that as per the circular there has to be one teacher in the primary team and two teachers in the secondary team.
“When I was Minister for Primary and Secondary Education and you were Principal Secretary of the department, the question of why only teachers were being deployed to various government works was raised. Subsequently, we had taken a decision that apart from teachers, employees of various government departments should be deployed to such works. Subsequently, a letter was written to the Election Commission against deploying only teachers for election work. An order was then issued to utilise the services of employees of all departments for government works,” Mr. Horatti recalled in the letter.
Latest circular
He has further pointed out that according to the latest circular on COVID-19 teams, apart from paramedical staff, only teachers had been included and other departments had been left out. “Already, various government departments have declared holidays and several have been asked to work from home. Such employees could be deployed for COVID-19 related work,” he has said.
Clarifying that he was not against deploying teachers for the work, Mr. Horatti sought to know why only teachers were singled out for such works. “In various departments there are instances of employees not being available during office hours even when there is a lot of work to do,” he has said.
Mr. Horatti has said that teachers should not feel that they were being targeted while allotting such work. “I only want responsibility to be shared by the employees of all departments. I have also brought this issue to the notice of the Minister concerned and I request you to review your decision to deploy only teachers,” he has said in the letter.
