India
January 18, 2021
Last Tuesday, Delhi deployed teachers from government schools to bird duty to stand as sentries at border points and check for any illegal transportation of poultry into the city state
, in the midst of a spreading outbreak of avian flu. From 8 pm to 6 am, the teachers were instructed to check the birds’ veterinary certificates and to prohibit chicken products from being shipped into Delhi.
The order raised the hackles of the Government School Teachers Association, which said that teachers couldn’t be expected to pull night shifts after spending their days in online classes. “Sir, the teaching community selflessly served when the government and the citizens needed them for Covid-19 prevention,” the teachers’ letter to the government remarked. Now the government was “taking advantage of the situation and just harassing teachers into unjustified duties.”