Stop brawling in a graveyard

Wednesday 1st September, 2021

Children are dying of Covid-19. Hospitals are overflowing with little pandemic victims gasping for oxygen. Schools have remained closed for months, and there are no signs of their reopening any time soon. Examinations continue to be postponed. One of the biggest challenges the country is facing is to get children back to school. But teachers and principals are on the warpath demanding an immediate solution to a salary issue, which is more than 20 years old! The government is expending its time and energy on pacifying the protesting teachers.

The government, pushed against the wall, and not wanting a protracted battle on another front, has offered an interim allowance of Rs. 5,000 to teachers, and undertaken to present a solution to their salary issue through the next budget, and implement it in stages. The teacher unions would have none of it; they are demanding their pound of flesh.

Teachers have genuine grievances, which need to be redressed, and their salary issue should have been sorted out years ago. Successive governments have chosen to circumnavigate the problem and let the grass grow under their feet. Similarly, teachers have to share the blame for the rapid deterioration of the standards of public schools, as evident from their students’ heavy dependence on shadow education or private tuition. There are, of course, excellent teachers who are like ‘candles that burn themselves up to give others light’, but the teaching profession is full of shirkers, who are also demanding higher salaries. Sadly, the protesting teacher unions do not take any action against these undesirables; they have also not demanded that school admissions be rid of bribery and corruption.

The government’s report card is much worse—naturally. There seems to be no shortage of funds when it comes to politicians’ wants and needs. But for vehement protests, the government would have imported hundreds of super luxury vehicles for the members of parliament and others while whingeing about financial difficulties. The ruling coalition and the Opposition are on the same page where their salaries, perks and privileges are concerned. Mega scandals involving sugar and milk powder imports, under the current dispensation, have deprived the state coffers of billions of rupees. The government pretends that these losses are negligible. So, it cannot expect others to buy into its claim that it is cash-strapped.

Teachers and other workers have a right to demand pay hikes and resort to trade union struggles to safeguard their rights. But this certainly is not the time for such actions. The pandemic is spreading fast, and the health experts warn that the worst is yet to come. Hospitals are facing a capacity crunch, and health workers are burned out; infections are rising among them. Some doctors, nurses and other health workers have already died of Covid-19. Crematoria have got overheated due to operating 24/7. They cannot cope with the increasing number of corpses, and some of them have already conked out, we are told. The day may not be far off when we have funeral pyres blazing in public parks, absit omen, unless the pandemic is brought under control urgently. The protesting teachers and the government must work out a truce —and fast.

The country must remain maniacally focused on curbing the runaway transmission of the deadly virus, achieving herd immunity through vaccination fast, getting students back to school, and rebooting the economy. Trade unions can resume their agitations for pay hikes, etc., thereafter, and the government will not be in a position to renege on the pledge it has made when the situation improves. If teachers act wisely, demonstrating that they are considerate towards the pandemic-hit fellow citizens, they will have the people on their side. The country’s fight against the pandemic must take precedence over everything else.