UP teachers ordered to arrange 100 quintals of chaff for destitute bovines or face punishment

Lucknow: Teachers are supposed to teach but in Uttar Pradesh the teachers, it seems, do everything except that.

In a bizarre directive, the primary teachers in the state's Bareilly district, have been asked to arrange chaff for destitute bovines triggering a backlash from the teachers' unions.

The Block Shiksha Adhikari (BLO) of Nawabganj in the district, in a written directive issued a few days back, said that his office had been instructed to arrange 100 quintals of chaff for the destitute bovines.

"You (teachers) are directed to donate 48 kilograms of chaff per school in Block," the order issued by the official said.

The teachers were directed to complete the task within a week and earned that failure to achieve the target would face departmental action.

The teachers were asked to make the donations and obtain a receipt of the same and submit it to the BLO office.

As the teachers' unions slammed the directive, senior district officials, while making it clear that taking care of the destitute bovines was a priority, said that they were not aware of any such order.

"The teachers were earlier also asked to complete the task but they didn't take interest in it as a result of which it was made compulsory," said the BLO.

A teachers' union leader said that the main job of the teachers was to teach. "Today it's chaff, tomorrow it may be dung" he said.

He also warned of a state wide agitation if the directive was not withdrawn.