As many as 1,374 teachers were found absent in schools without applying for leave in Nabarangpur district.
The teachers went to their native districts prior to the nationwide lockdown enforced to check the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19) on March 24.
This came to the fore after the District Education Officer (DEO) asked the Block Education Officers (BEOs) to furnish lists of absent teachers and the latter submitted compliance reports.
According to reports, 51 teachers in Nabarangpur block, 72 in Tentulikhunti, 230 in Kosagumuda, 162 in Umarkote, 53 in Nandahandi, 96 in Chandahandi, 166 in Papadahandi, 214 in Jharigam, 247 in Raighar and 83 in Dabugam are absent.
The DEOs have directed the teachers to remain present in their respective place of posting immediately and give their endorsement in attendant sheets to mark their physical present.
It is alleged that some teachers have given proxy in attendant sheets to save their colleagues.
Keeping in view of more numbers of migrants returning home, the district administration has planned to install more quarantine centers in district. The DEO has been instructed to identify quarantine facilities which would be managed by Government staffs, including schoolteachers.
But the illegal absence of the teachers during the corona pandemic has worried the authority. An exemplary departmental action against the erring teachers has been demanded.