Balangir: In a highly unfortunate incident, a teacher of a government school in Odisha's Balangir district reportedly sought leave for a day to work as a labourer due to non-payment of salary for the last three months.

Prabhudatta Sahoo, who is serving as an Assistant Teacher (ex-cadre) at the Bandhanbahal Primary School in the Puintala block of the district, submitted a leave application to the headmaster of the government-run educational institution on Wednesday.

In the application, Sahoo mentioned that his financial condition has deteriorated after not receiving salary for the past three months. The teacher sought a leave for February 20 to work as a labourer, which was sanctioned by the headmaster.

District Education Officer Pradeep Nag clarified that Sahoo’s salary has been pending for two months, not three. Sahoo is part of the Odisha State Assistant Teachers (ex-cadre) group. The delay in salary payments for ex-cadre teachers occurred due to technical issues in the digiGOV website, which processes their salaries, said Nag.