A spin on supporting teachers
Six years ago, in Raichur’s Sindhanur, a group of teachers from different institutions began to gather on the weekends, over a homecooked meal. Thus, the B K Geleyara Balaga was formed.
However, when tragedy struck one of the young members of the group, his family was left without financial aid, and the Balaga took a new form. It evolved to address two concerns: The health of lecturers and financial support for the families of deceased teachers.
Since then, the group has kickstarted a cricket league along the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL), for government, aided and private pre-university and degree colleges of Sindhanur taluk. There are around 29 colleges in the taluk and about 90 lecturers participate in this event – the Lecturers Premier League (LPL).
The month-long game ensures that lecturers, a majority of whom otherwise lead sedentary lifestyles, stay healthy and fit. “The teaching faculty in government-aided and private colleges do not have job security. In case of casualty, their families also do not get any financial assistance. The LPL was started keeping this in mind, so that the funds collected can act as a contingency corpus,” says Venkatnarayana M, an assistant professor at Government Degree College in Sindhanur and convenor of the league.
The 90 teachers, aged between 25 to 60, are divided into six franchises. The franchises are owned by private colleges and the principals of government colleges. The players are divided into three categories — ‘excellent’, ‘good’ and ‘decent’. They are then allocated to the six teams through a lucky dip.
Each team plays five matches of 10 overs each. The games are held every day in July and August after college hours.
The teachers have to pay Rs 100 each for registration while each franchise pays Rs 5,000. This apart, donors (senior teachers and college management) also sponsor cups, medals, and individual awards. On average, the organisers collect Rs 39,000 from the league. This entire amount goes into the contingency account.
It was after the demise of their colleague and private college lecturer, 35-year-old Hanumesh Gumgeri that this idea was developed and executed, say members of the Balaga. Hanumesh had young children — a six-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son. “The family had limited sources of income. So, the members of the group decided to play a charity game. Through this, Rs 1.45 lakh was raised and deposited in the name of his children,” says S Shivaraj, a government PU college principal and owner of the Government Super King franchise.
Since then, the teachers have been organising commemorative cricket tournaments in memory of teachers who passed away due to accidents or health issues.
Chand Pasha, brother of Noor Md Pasha, a private college lecturer who died of Covid, says they received Rs 50,000 from the Balaga, which they used to purchase a roti-making unit.
Building bridges
The cricket league is resulting in an unforeseen benefit for the teachers and management of the private colleges. “As the teachers play for different franchises, they are bonding well, resulting in a healthy competitive environment in the taluk. The bonding is not just limited to cricket, we are joining hands with each other in the events organised by various colleges. We are also participating in study enhancement programmes for students,” says R C Patil, member of Patil Education Society and owner of a franchise.
The Balaga is not limiting itself to the welfare of teachers but extends support to students too. Venkatnarayana says they organise state-level competitive exam workshops each year for nearly 1,500 students. “We invite subject experts from across the state and senior Karnataka Administrative Service officers to provide a day-long interaction programme for the students. We also provide a small prize to a few students to help support their higher studies,” he says.
