UP: Teachers to double up as Ganga Yatra hosts

LUCKNOW: Government teachers posted in 10 primary schools in UP’s Hardoi district have been directed to provide hospitality to the delegation participating in ongoing Ganga Yatra.
An order (a copy is with TOI) was issued by block education officer (BEO) of Bilagram in Hardoi asking teachers and cooks working in 10 primary schools to ensure accommodation and food to Ganga Yatris.
The four-day Ganga Yatra, which took off from Bijnor and Ballia on January 27, reached Hardoi on Thursday.The yatra will culminate in Kanpur on Friday.
The yatra aims at increasing awareness on Ganga cleanliness and rejuvenation. “According to the letter of the district basic education officer dated 28/01/2020, participants of the Ganga Yatra will have a night stay (on January 30) in gram panchayats near the banks of Ganga. Teachers and cooks of schools mentioned below should provide lodging and food to the delegation,” the order said.
Four primary schools of Bilagram and six of Sandi block of Hardoi were mentioned in the order.
The order, however, did not go down well with teachers. “For anything happening in the state, be it bridal makeover for mass marriage, pulse polio campaign, updating of voter list, they (government) assign responsibility to us. And now we have to take care of Ganga Yatris. How do they expect us to impart quality education,” asked a teacher.
Repeated attempts to contact basic shiksha adhikari (BSA), Hardoi, Hemant Rao failed. He also did not reply to messages sent by TOI.
The order came days after government teachers in Siddharthnagar district were assigned duties to do bridal makeover for brides getting married under the government’s mass marriage programme.
However, after the order went viral on social media, basic education officer of Siddharthnagar Surya Kant Tripathi cancelled the order issued by block officer and proposed an inquiry against him.