Bhubaneswar, April 20: Continuing its move to check dereliction of duty and absenteeism in schools, the school and mass education department has dismissed three government teachers.

“The teachers, from Sambalpur and Bhadrak districts have been dismissed for remaining absent from duty for a long time,” said an official of the school and mass education department.

Disciplinary action has also been initiated against headmasters of both the schools. The decision was taken following an inquiry into complaints received on the school and mass education department’s helpline.

“Students from the Charmal Government School in Redhakhol of Sambalpur district had called up on the helpline informing us about teachers remaining absent from their school for a long time. Accordingly, joint director D.C. Panda had directed an inquiry into the matter,” said the official.

The allegations were found true and a teacher, Gyatri Sethi, was found to be on unauthorised leave since December 14, 2010. While Sethi has been dismissed, disciplinary action has been initiated against the headmaster of the school for letting her remain on unauthorised leave.

Similarly, at the Dolamunda High School in Chandbali of Bhadrak district, teacher Snigdha Das was removed for the similar reasons. “A complaint was registered following a call received on the school helpline. Following a probe, it was found that Das had remained on unauthorised leave from March 17, 2010 to March 28, 2011,” said the official.

In the same school, Hindi teacher Kailash Pati was also found absent for the last six months. Pati had also arranged a proxy teacher to teach in his place.

Both Pati and Das have been removed from their duties. Disciplinary action has also been initiated against the headmaster of the school.

In February, Madhusmita Tripathy, a teacher from the Amrit Manohi Primary School in Bhadrak, was removed from duty for being irregular and remaining absent for a long time. Four more persons, including the headmaster of the school, the block resource coordinator and the cluster resource coordinator, were also suspended in the case.

At least eight teachers have been removed from their duties in the last three months for absenteeism, said the official, adding that the toll-free helpline has proved to be a major help in detecting such cases.