Denied pension, schoolteacher in Haveri seeks permission for euthanasia

HAVERI: A retired schoolteacher in Haveri has written to the President of India seeking permission for euthanasia. Sumangala Patil, who worked as a teacher at the Kirthee High School in Bankapur in Shiggaon taluk in Haveri for nearly 30 years, has sought permission for mercy killing citing non-payment of pension.
When Sumangala started working at the Bankapur school, it was a government institution, but it was converted into an aided school in 2006.Although she retired in 2018, she is yet to receive her pension thereby making it incredibly difficult for her to run the household. I her letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, Sumangala has asked him either to issue directions to the competent authorities to release her pension or permit euthanasia.
Deputy director of public instruction, Haveri district, Andaneppa Vadageri said that it was a tweaking in the pension policy in 2006 that had resulted in Sumangala not getting a pension. “According to new pension plan introduced in 2006, both teaching and non-teaching staff of aided schools are not eligible to pension from the government. This is not a problem of just one teacher but has affected all those working in aided schools. We have already made this clear to Sumangala,” Vadageri said.