“Dear Mamata didun (dear grandmother Mamata), I am five years old. I stay in Asansol and my mother is a primary teacher in Uttar Dinajpur. I stay with my father and grandfather, but I miss my mother a lot. It really hurts me to stay without my mother. Kindly send my mother back home soon, I love her a lot” — This is what five-year-old Aitijhya Das from Asansol wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Swagata Pain has been teaching at a primary school in Uttar Dinajpur since 2001. The distance between her workplace and her family in Asansol is around 450 km, making regular travel impossible. Her son stays in Asansol with his father, a Central government employee, and his 89-year-old grandfather. With no woman in the house, Aitijhya is largely taken care of by a maid.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Swagata said, “I teach in a primary school, I teach other children but my own child is deprived of his mother’s love. I have written several times but in vain. Our entire batch has got postings in schools very far from home.”

According to her, out of 16,500 primary teachers recruited in 2021, around 6,000 were allegedly posted away from their home districts. “Not only me, there are thousands who have been posted far away. Generally for primary school we know that it will be close to home. We have written to various departments, including the CM, for transfer,” she said.

Swagata once tried keeping her son with her in Uttar Dinajpur, but his asthma worsened in the weather there. He was critically ill once, after which the family decided he should remain in Asansol. “I am surprised that this idea came to his mind. He actually used to see me write to the Chief Minister or talk to my husband that I have written to the CM, only she can help me. Probably, this is why he has written,” she added.

Her biggest regret, she said, is missing her son’s milestones. “My heart aches seeing him grow up so fast. I am missing out on his childhood. I know he is hurt when I am unable to stay for sports day or any school function of his. When he is very hurt then he cries and tells me how much he misses me.”

Aitijhya told this newspaper, “I have written a letter to the Chief Minister so that my mother can come closer to me. I know only Mamata Didun can bring my mother closer. If my mother comes back to me, I will write another letter to her saying, ‘Dhonnobad (thank you), Mamata didun (grandmother).’”

The family now hopes that the Chief Minister will intervene and grant a special transfer so Swagata can live closer to her son.