Junior Teacher Aspirants Demand Filling Up Of Vacant Posts, Continue Overnight Stir

Members of the Odisha Junior Teacher Aspirants' Association (OJTAA) who had launched an agitation on Wednesday night at the Lower PMG square in Bhubaneswar demanding immediate filling up of vacant junior teacher posts in the State, continued the stir on Thursday.

As per reports, hundreds of agitating teacher aspirants carried on the demonstration overnight on Wednesday and continued well through Thursday. Their demands include an increase in the upper age limit for the position-- from 32 to 42 years-- and threatened to continue the agitation if their demands were not fulfilled.

Reshma Mohanty, an aspirant at the protest site said, “The government has not provided us any written assurance as yet. We will not budge from this place until they do so.”

“We gathered yesterday and met the Secretary of the concerned department who assured us verbally that the recruitment process is under consideration. But we need a written assurance from the government and until then we will not move,” said another agitator.

The OJTAA members alleged that though over 20,000 junior teachers’ posts are lying vacant in the State, the corresponding recruitment has not been carried out since December 2016. They said that about 75,000 candidates, who are qualified to be junior teachers, are awaiting postings.

The government is yet to make any official statement on this matter.