Relief for teachers as Govt withdraws affidavit clause for grant-in-aid

Bhubaneswar: In what comes as a big relief for hundreds of agitating teachers and employees of schools and colleges, the Odisha government on Tuesday withdrew the clause of compulsory submission of affidavit to avail grant-in-aid facility.

As per the decision of Higher Education and School & Mass Education departments, the teachers are only required to submit details in writing about their court cases so that the government can be aware of all the pending cases and decide future course of action accordingly, a statement released by the Office of Chief Minister said.

On the other hand, the teachers' body said that it has not received any communication from the government yet. It has demanded that the government should come out with a notification that it has withdrawn the clause.

Odisha government had earlier made a policy for compulsory submission of affidavits to avail grant-in-aid facility while abolishing the block-grant system.

As per the provision, the teachers had to withdraw all court cases against government in any legal forum and declare that they would not move court in future.

Describing such policy as undemocratic, teachers and lecturers under the banner of All Odisha School and College Teachers' and Employees' Forum had staged demonstration in different parts of the State including Bhubaneswar. They had also threatened to boycott HSC and Plus Two examination if their demand is not fulfilled.