HD Kumaraswamy urges Karnataka govt to declare teachers as Corona warriors

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 24 (ANI): Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday urged the Karnataka government to declare teachers as Covid-19 warriors and give them compensation, in wake of the prevailing situation.
In a tweet, Kumaraswamy wrote, "I condemn the negligent attitude and carelessness of the government about teachers who actually build the future. I demand that the government must take immediate measures to declare teachers as Corona warriors and grant compensation to their families without any delay."
Earlier, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader claimed in a tweet that more than 145 teachers from the Kalyana Karnataka region, who had taken part in poll duty and took classes under the Vidyagama programme of the government, have died due to Covid-19.
"The statistics regarding the death of teachers in other regions of the state are still not available", he tweeted.
Expressing his concerns about this matter, the former CM said, "I urge the government to consider all the teachers, who died due to the pandemic, as Corona warriors and grant an immediate compensation of Rs 50 lakh to their families."
"While more than 145 teachers have died in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region alone, several teachers from other regions too have lost their lives while abiding by the instructions of the government to take part in duty", he said.
The former Chief Minister said that the state government, which deputed them either on poll duty or any other responsibility, should own up the responsibility for their death. "It is a matter of concern that thousands of teachers in the state are suffering from Covid", he said.
Karnataka reported 25,979 new Covid-19 positive cases, 35,573 recoveries and 626 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state health department yesterday. The state is also witnessing a surge in black fungus cases. (ANI)