Meet our demands or face consequences in polls: Odisha teachers tell government 

Responding to the call of the Odisha Secondary School Teachers' Association (OSSTA), thousands of teachers took to the streets at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, protesting over the government’s alleged failure to meet their demands. 

Organising a massive protest rally, teachers alleged that the state government had neglected them. They said that they gathered at the Lower PMG protesting the government's negligence.

The agitating teachers warned of intensifying their agitation if the government fails to meet their demands. They said that the government will see their unity in the upcoming elections 

They demanded grants to all the schools eligible for grants, removal of anomalies in the grade pay of Rs 2800, and introduction of the RA scheme.  

“The government has been repeatedly cheating us by giving assurances. We are the teachers of 194 category schools. We have been imparting education to students for the last 30 years without salaries. We are not getting a single penny of grant,” an agitating woman teacher fumed.

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She added since 2017, the government has been delaying fulfillment of our demands on the plea of verification of the demands. “Many teachers have retired and several others have died without getting remunerations,” she added.

“If the government fails to meet our demands, we will intensify our agitation against it. We will show our unity and it will reflect during the elections,” another teacher warned.   

A teacher leader lamented that the government had taken 130 days' time to consider their demands, but nothing was done. Hence, they were forced to take to the streets, he added.