Daijiworld Media Network – Palamu
Palamu, Jul 27: A pregnant government school teacher in Jharkhand's Palamu district allegedly lost her unborn baby after being made to commute around 35 km daily until the final month of her pregnancy, with her family accusing education officials of denying her leave and demanding a bribe.
The teacher, Bharti Pandey, who is posted at Sildiliya Plus-2 School in Tarhasi and is on deputation at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Chainpur, reportedly went into labour at school on Saturday.
As her condition worsened, she went to the office of the District Education Officer (DEO) to seek leave. She was later rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared that the baby had died in the womb.
Her husband, Mukesh Kumar Tiwari, a police personnel, held Palamu District Education Officer Sandeep Kumar responsible for the tragedy.
Tiwari alleged that Pandey, who was in the final month of her pregnancy, had applied for maternity leave on July 3, but the application was not approved. He further claimed that the DEO demanded a bribe of Rs 50,000 to sanction the leave. According to him, the family even offered Rs 25,000, but the leave was still not granted.
He also alleged that the Deputy Commissioner (DC) had directed the Education Department five days before the incident to approve the leave, but the DEO failed to comply.
However, Palamu Deputy Commissioner Dilip Pratap Singh Shekhawat said the teacher had applied for child care leave and not maternity leave. He stated that the application cited child care leave, which is granted for reasons such as children's examinations or medical needs, and did not mention pregnancy. The application, he added, was under process and was approved on the day of the incident.
Responding to the bribery allegations, Shekhawat said a departmental inquiry has been ordered. He said the administration has recommended the transfer or suspension of the DEO and that an FIR would be registered if evidence supporting the allegations is found.
DEO Sandeep Kumar also maintained that the application submitted by the teacher did not seek maternity leave.