On Teachers’ Day, teachers stage protest, take classes wearing black badges in Odisha

While Teachers’ Day is being observed across India today to glorify the contribution of teachers in building the society, lecturers in Odisha took classes in different colleges across the state by wearing black badges.

As per reports, around 4,000 lecturers of the State Selection Board staged the unique protest demanding an increase in grade pay from Rs 4,600 to 5,400. They further demanded that the increase in grade pay should be approved by the Odisha government effective 2016.

As per the allegation by the association, they have requested the government to increase the grade pay several times. However, the Odisha government is not paying any attention towards their demand. Hence, they were forced to celebrate the Teachers’ Day as 'Black Day'.

As per sources, an inter-ministerial meeting will be conducted at Lok Seva Bhawan at 6 pm today. It is expected that a decision regarding the increase in grade pay of the State Selection Board lecturers will be taken in the meeting.

Meanwhile, some teachers under the Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association (OSSTA) also staged protest by wearing black badges at Lower PMG Square in Bhubaneswar to put forth their various demands.