Pressing for their demands including the abolition of contractual appointments, thousands of teachers on Sunday staged a massive rally at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar.
The demonstration was staged under the banner of NPS Secondary Teachers’ Association. The protesting teachers have long been protesting against the government’s contractual recruitment process.
Their other demands included an increment to teachers who were appointed since 2001 and the reimplementation of the old pension scheme.
They alleged that the Odisha government had promised them to do away with the contractual appointment system and regularize jobs of all the teachers at the higher secondary schools who had joined after 2004. But the government went back on its promise. The notification of the General Administration department lacks transparency.
The agitating teachers have warned the state government that they would disrupt the Matriculation Summative-1 test scheduled on November 23, if the government doesn’t come up with any concrete steps regarding job regularization of appointees between 2004 and 2013-14.
On the other hand, the demonstration launched by Anganwadi workers under the banner of All Odisha Anganwadi Ladies Workers Association entered its seventh day on Sunday. The workers have been against the State government’s alleged inordinate delay in fulfilling their demands.
Their demands include government employee status, monthly pension of Rs 5,000 after retirement and compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of an Anganwadi worker in case of her death.
The Lower PMG also witnessed hundreds of clerical staff under the aegis of Odisha Ministerial Officers' Association staging a sit-in demonstration. They have been demanding equal pay for equal work. Their demand is an increase of their grade pay from Rs 1900 to Rs 4200. About 10,000 clerical staff participated in the demonstration.