A pregnant teacher in Jharkhand's Palamu district allegedly had to commute around 35 km every day to her school until the final month of her pregnancy after she was denied leave. On Saturday, she went into labour at school, and doctors later declared that her baby had died in the womb.
The teacher, Bharti Pandey, is posted at Sildiliya Plus-2 School in Tarhasi and is currently on deputation at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Chainpur.
After her condition worsened at school on Saturday, she went to the office of the District Education Officer (DEO) to seek leave. Her health deteriorated further there, following which she was rushed to a hospital, where doctors informed 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 his wife, who was in the final month of her pregnancy, had applied for maternity leave on July 3, but the request 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 claimed that five days before the incident, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) had directed the Education Department to approve the leave. Despite the instruction, the DEO allegedly failed to act.
Palamu Deputy Commissioner Dilip Pratap Singh Shekhawat, however, said the teacher had applied for child care leave, not maternity leave.
According to the Deputy Commissioner, the application sought child care leave, which is granted for reasons such as children's examinations or medical needs, and made no mention of pregnancy. He added that the application 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 added that the administration has recommended the transfer or suspension of the DEO and that an FIR will also be registered if evidence substantiating the allegations is found.
DEO Sandeep Kumar also maintained that the application submitted by the teacher did not mention maternity leave.