Telangana Civic polls claim lives of five teachers

Hyderabad: Elections to two municipal corporations and five municipalities that took place in the state on April 30 have so far claimed the lives of at least five government school teachers, just in the past one week.

The government teachers, two from Warangal, two from Nalgonda, and one from Khamman passed away after contracting Covid-19 virus, after executing duty as polling officers, confirmed Telangana State United Teachers Federation (TSUTF) general secretary Chava Ravi.

"A number of teachers who were drafted for election duties have tested positive in the past two weeks, five of whom passed away recently. As per the information from TSUTF district units in the state, as many as 500 teachers tested positive, mostly in Khammam, Warangal, and Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly after the elections took place. During this second wave of the virus spread alone, more than 120 teachers have lost their lives,” he said.

The elections that took place amidst Covid-19 second wave across the country, flouting all safety protocols during campaigning were even criticised by the High Court earlier. Meanwhile, the Telangana State Election Commission on Tuesday announced that it would put on hold the process of announcing the poll schedule to the posts of sarpanches and members of Mandal Praja Parishad (MPP), Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) in rural areas due to the Covid-19 pandemic.