Bhubaneswar, Jan. 22 -- The Puri district administration has ordered the withholding of salaries of 72 school headmasters for failing to submit reports on awareness programmes related to lightning safety and snakebite management, officials said on Thursday.

As per reports, District Education Officer (DEO) Deepak Padhi confirmed that the decision was taken after repeated instructions to conduct and report on the awareness programmes were not complied with. The headmasters were directed to organise the camps during the last monsoon season to educate students and villagers on precautionary measures related to lightning strikes and snakebites.

An amount of Rs 4,500 was disbursed to each headmaster from the DEO's office for the purpose. Rs 2...