Government school teachers have accused the state government of playing with their lives by assigning them Covid-19 duty at critical areas without providing them enough protective gear at a time when the second wave of the pandemic is taking a heavy toll and demanded they be provided with special insurance cover.

Airing their concerns, two teachers’ outfits wrote letters to chief minister Hemant Soren and chief secretary Sukhdev Singh on Friday demanding their immediate intervention at a time when at least a dozen government staffers had died in the last 10 days.

The Akhil Bharatiya Prathamik Sikshak Sangh (ABPSB), a state level outfit of primary school teachers, told the chief secretary that several teachers had been assigned duty at ICUs, CCUs, and other departments in Covid care centres across the the state but without the necessary safeguards.

Naseem Ahmed, spokesperson of the sangh said, “Like others, teachers too are equally vulnerable and are doing Covid duty assigned by the government at different hospitals, testing centres without any safety measures. We have not been given any PPE kits, masks or gloves. Who will take the onus if anyone dies?”

Ahmed demanded that the government declare them as frontline workers and provide Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for them.

Ekakrit Para Shikshak Sangharsh Morcha (EPSSM), a statewide outfit for para-teachers, issued a simialr demand. In its letter to the chief minister on Friday, the morcha said that lives of over 60,000 para-teachers were at stake as they were working without any safety net.

“Para-teachers aren’t permanent staff of the state government, but still they are used for Covid duty. Many are working day and night to assist the government without any basic protective gear. In recent times, many para-teachers who are 50 years old have contacted the virus and even died but the government hasn’t provided them any assistance. We demand Rs 50 lakh insurance for every para-teacher engaged in Covid duty,” the letter said.

Among government officials who have died due to Covid is Ramgarh district labour superintendent Digamber Mahto who breathed his last on Thursday morning. Mahto was one of the key officials who played a crucial role to bring back stranded residents after an avalanche struck Chamoli in Uttrakhand last year.

State school education secretary Rajesh Kumar Sharma did not respond when this website called him for his comments.