Teachers turn kinnow ‘coolies’ on scooters

Shivani Bhakoo

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Ludhiana, February 28

The distribution of kinnow has become a ‘headache’ for teachers in government schools. Yesterday was the second Tuesday on which the fruit was distributed among students, and the teachers repeated the complaint they’d made last week — they had to work like ‘coolies’ to load and unload the fruit.

“We are teachers but the government has turned us into coolies. It has become a headache for all of us as we are asked to visit the respective blocks, get huge bags of kinnows in crates and then go back to return the crates,” said a teacher, wishing anonymity, in Samrala area.

A teacher of a primary school which has only two teachers said, “It becomes too difficult to get kinnows from the block. We are just two teachers… Yesterday I had to go to the block, which is 5km away, and get it on my scooter. It was not easy to get huge bags of fruit on a scooter. The government should think of our plight too.”

Teachers must return the fruit crates the same day. “Are they providing us funds for fuel? No! Our role is to teach students, not to indulge in such activities and waste our energies,” said another teacher.