Viral video shows students locking up school staff over unpaid meal funds during pandemic

A group of students in Durjanpur, a district in Haryana, reportedly locked all the teachers including the headmaster of a government school after alleging that students did not receive the money intended for mid-day meals during the Covid-19 pandemic when schools were closed. The teachers were later released by the students.

Pankaj Mishra, the Block Education Officer, announced on January 21st that an investigation is underway to determine any discrepancies in the incident. Action will be taken against those found responsible, he added. According to a report by PTI, a video of the incident has been circulated widely on social media.

According to Jaiprakash Yadav, the headmaster of the school, the teachers and himself were locked in by students on Friday and were only released after he assured the students that action will be taken. A video of the incident, which went viral on social media on January 20th, allegedly shows the teachers and headmaster of the school locked up by the students in a room, as stated by the Block Education Officer. In the video, a Class VIII student named Dheeraj can be heard claiming that no student has received the money intended for mid-day meals during the Covid-19 period.

The student in the video alleged that the matter was brought to the headmaster's attention on multiple occasions but no action was taken. Headmaster Yadav can also be heard in the video stating that all teachers were locked up because the money for mid-day meals was not deposited in the bank accounts of the students' parents. According to a PTI report, Harendra Singh, the SHO of Revati police station, stated that he had not received any information from the school regarding the incident.