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Bhubaneswar: Bowing down under pressure from block grant teachers who were agitating for the last 17 days, Odisha Government on Friday abolished the block grant system in State.
The announcement was made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Secretariat today evening.
“The block grant system has been abolished and replaced with grant-in-aid system. This will benefit teachers, student and uplift quality of education. I request teachers to go back to their respective schools and start teaching,” said Patnaik.
Patnaik further stated that earlier Odisha government in 2004 had introduced the block grant system to support teachers of the Schools and Colleges that were earlier not getting any support from the government.
Now the government has decided to support them further and in a historic decision, the block grant system has been abolished, Patnaik added.
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“The teachers have thanked CM Naveen Patnaik for abolishing block grant system and introducing grant-in-aid system. I think there would be no problems for teachers as they will be entitled to get grade pay, DA, increments as well,” School and Mass Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra said.
The Odisha School College United Teachers and Employees’ Association has been staging demonstration for the last 17 days at Lower PMG square demanding fulfillment of their demands.
The association is a union of Block Grant Lecturers and Employees Associations of 488 Category Aided Colleges, All Odisha 662 (+2 and +3) Non-government Lecturers’ and Employees’ Association and Odisha School Teachers Association.
“For the last 17 days we have been demanding service condition and gave two months time to State government to consider our demands of ex-gratia to retired teachers. As grant-in-aid has been introduced, we have also sought increments for 488-category colleges and 662-category schools every three years,” said Convenor of School Teachers Association, Prakash Mohanty.
