Teachers, who continue to remain absent for long periods from work due to fear of life, are now "hiring" local youth to take classes on their behalf and paying them half of their salaries.
This seems to be a different kind of 'outsourcing' that is fast catching up in several remote Naxal-affected areas.
Teachers, who continue to remain absent for long periods from work due to fear of life, are now "hiring" local youth to take classes on their behalf and paying them half of their salaries.
It has apparently turned out to be a 'win-win situation' for both the teachers as well as the local, half-educated and unemployed youths putting the education of students at stake.
The teachers get half of their salaries staying at home while the youths, who do not have the required qualification, get to teach students school and even get half the salaries.
The trend is fast catching up in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa as school inspectors hardly could visit the schools in remote areas for a reality check due to presence of Maoists and lack of security.
"It is a very disturbing scenario. We can well imagine what would be the quality of education in these schools. We hope that as security forces taking control of more and more Naxal dominated areas, situation would be improved gradually and normalcy is restored," a government official said.
As the Maoists continue to hold sway over large parts of central India, besides the primary education, healthcare for poor also has gone haywire in many such areas as a substantial number medical practitioners are staying away from duties due to threat to life. Many posts in primary health centres are also lying vacant as no one is willing to work there.
State governments too are facing problems in running schools and PHCs in Maoists-hit areas as hundreds of teachers and doctors continue to remain absent for a long time due to Naxal threat while many others did not join their duties even after getting appointment.
Several teachers were either killed, abducted or thrashed badly by Naxals labelling them either police informers or opposed to Maoist ideology.
In seven Naxal-affected districts of Chhattisgarh, only 526 teachers are on the job, out of 2,558 sanctioned posts. In Jharkhand's 11 Maoist-hit districts, 2,937 teachers are working, out of 4,066 sanctioned posts. In Orissa's five districts, 3,566 teachers are on the roll, out of the 6,003 sanctioned posts.
Till September 30 this year, four medical practitioners were killed by Maoists, two in Chhattisgarh, one in Jharkhand and one in West Bengal, who was a veterinary doctor.
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