Amaravati,  Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Thursday appealed to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to immediately come to the rescue of private school teachers.

"I bring to your urgent attention an issue that remains under-reported and unrecognized by the government. The first and second waves of the coronavirus pandemic have left thousands of private teachers in financial and mental turmoil," said Lokesh.

Considering this predicament, especially in the light of a private school owning couple committing suicide recently in Kurnool district, he demanded that the state government provide immediate assistance.

The TDP's second in command advised the Chief Minister to learn from Telangana and Karnataka which doled out financial assistance and provisions to the beleaguered private teachers.

"Similarly, there must be immediate financial and in-kind transfers to their families in the short-term in AP, on the lines of what other governments have done," he noted.

According to Lokesh, there are 12,000 private schools in Andhra, providing employment to nearly 1.25 lakh teachers who are receiving only 60 per cent to 70 per cent of their salaries, including lack of clarity on retrenched teachers.

"Thousands of teachers in private schools have been receiving salaries irregularly since the lockdowns began in March 2020. Over the last five months, nearly 5 lakh members of the teaching and non-teaching staff working in schools, colleges and universities have borne the brunt of the economic recession resulting from the Covid pandemic," he observed.

He reminded that several Telugu and English dailies reported how private school teachers were forced to sell vegetables, do manual labour, work as construction labourers and take up other odd jobs to make ends meet.

"There is an instance of a Telugu lecturer with a PhD in Kadapa who was forced to do agricultural labour to support his family. Another Telugu teacher from Nellore was forced to sell bananas to sustain himself and his family amid the Covid pandemic," Lokesh lamented.

Highlighting that these are only a fraction of several such tragic stories, Lokesh said caring for them and ensuring their dignity and livelihood will ensure that these teachers' services to our current and future generations will continue.