Students call them “ghughuni sir”, “pakuri sir” and “sabjiwala sir” because these teachers have taken to selling these to survive during the lockdown.

Nearly 30,000 teachers of 6,000 venture educational institutions across Assam are facing innumerable difficulties to make ends meet.

Thousands among them are selling ghughuni, pakuri, vegetables and doing other low-capital investment work with their families, including children, to ensure a meal.

The president of the Assam Apradeshikrita Shikshanushtan Suraksha Mancha, Tinsukia unit, Pradip Kumar Moran, said: “Thousands of teachers are selling ghughuni, pakuri, vegetables and doing other low-capital investments work with their families. One of my colleagues who has been teaching in a venture school for the last 20 years is doing bamboo craft work to survive.”

Moran added as they are venture schoolteachers, their sufferings have been going unnoticed for the last 30 years.

A veteran teacher of a private school said: “The private school owners say that teachers’ salaries are paid from amount collected as monthly tuition fees from the students. As fee collection has been stopped, they are unable to pay the teachers. Private tuition has already been stopped. The teachers get a very small amount as salaries, so there is no question of savings. Now the teachers are expecting the government to provide some financial assistance in this crisis period. The education department should ensure that teachers are paid through their bank accounts and submit the list of teachers to the district administration.”

Another teacher said: “The NGOs should also come forward to help these teachers as it is below their dignity to stage demonstrations and seek media publicity. The NGOs and the Samaritans should help these teachers by reaching out to them.”

A private school owner said: “It was almost the beginning of the session and the schools were shut down suddenly. We, too, are in deep financial crisis. Despite that, the school management is trying its best to provide salaries to its all teaching and non-teaching staff.”

A delegation, led by the All Moran Students’ Union president Arunjyoti Moran, had met chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday and submitted a memorandum, urging them to grant funds for the teachers.