The story of KR Usha Kumari is an inspiration for both students and teachers worldwide and has won various awards for her services as a teacher. She dedicated 23 years of her life to teaching underprivileged tribal children in the forests of Kerala. Aged 54, she now sweeps and cleans at a Kerala government school in Thiruvanathapuram. 

This comes at a time when a disgraced fake historian named MR Raghava Warrier, who tried to push Marxist ideologies to destroy the Sabarimala Temple, now slyly heads the Centre for Heritage Studies. Marxism believes in using propaganda on young minds, and they have succeeded in Kerala.

Warrier helped the communists prepare fake documents in the name of the Sabarimala temple. The ruling regime then used those documents to create caste fissures within Hindu society. Egged on by raving Christians and radical Islamists, the Marxists tried minority appeasement politics. They tried hard to alter the customs and rituals of the famous temple but failed spectacularly.

In gratitude, Pinarayi Vijayan appointed the fraudster as Director-General, Centre for Heritage Studies, in 2018 for four years. Latest news is that the Kerala cabinet of ministers extended Warrier’s stay in the same position for four more years. Warrier is 86 years old, draws a salary of over Rs.1.5 lakhs, and has been provided vehicles and staff. The only positive is that Hindus now know exactly what to expect from him.

Communist priorities became apparent on the day they came to power in 2016. Nepotism had led to them dominating the government services, especially the education department. Such government employees are eligible for pensions after completing just two years in office.  

Called multi-grade learning centers (MGLCs), single-teacher schools have existed for many decades. On March 31, this year, the communist regime ordered the closure of 271 such Gurukuls in the poorest and remotest places in Kerala. 344 teaching staff were then named Part-Time Contingent Menial, which meant part-time sweepers. On June 1, schools reopened, and heavy rains meant that Usha’s cries went unheard. 

Fame and recognition came pretty late in her life, but now the state has added insult to injury by appointing her as a sweeper. Cleaning and health care workers contribute hugely to society, but the Kerala government’s decision to appoint 344 teachers for housekeeping shows bad workforce management or worse. 

Earlier, Usha used to ride her scooter to a river and row a boat to the forest’s edge. From there, tribal students would join her and trek 4 km through a snake, elephant and leopard-infested forest path to reach the school. Once in school, Usha would teach the children, cook the mid-day meals, take care of administrative duties and clean the whole premises. Her journey began at seven in the morning and ended at eight at night.

Students and Usha did so for 23 years. It shows that the state of Kerala was not interested in bringing literacy to these parts. Why would anyone build a school on top of a hill? Young tribal students had to trek for an hour and a half every day and come down the same way. Eight km every day through a thick jungle is no easy task, especially for young children. 

Unfortunately, these practices began with the Marxist-Nehru collaboration and nobody cared to check on mismanagement. The Covid brought extra challenges when the communists began shutting down such schools. Usha, meanwhile, will not be eligible for pensions. 

The media shamelessly carried reports that whitewashed such communist atrocities. They said that teachers like Usha are not qualified enough. The media noted that the Public Service Commission did not appoint these teachers. This was just propaganda to hide that they would be denied pensions. A minor increase in their consolidated salary has been much-touted. The government has a history of holding back the salaries of such teachers for months on end. 

Communists say that attendance has come down in such tribal schools. Everyone knows that it started since private schools began in tribal areas. The conversion mafia, especially the Christian one, is busy in these areas. This comes at a time when Madrassas are being granted massive amounts as grants.