Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Teachers Association organized a mass rally at lower PMG in Bhubaneswar demanding fulfillment of 11-point charter of demands including withdrawal of Block Grant and full grant to eligible schools. According to sources, around 17 teachers’ association participated in the rally.
“The work tenure of all the Siksha Sahayaks, Gana Shikshaks, Shiksha Karmi’s, and Contractual Teachers from their date of their appointments should be formally recognised. Moreover, the State government should eradicate the disparity in the education system between various districts,” said convener of the Odisha School Teachers Association Prakash Mohanty.
The teachers have also threatened to boycott Panchayat Elections if their demands are not met
“Since the past 30 years, around 30,000 teachers and 20,000 lecturers have been suffering in this education system. Every day teachers are dying. The coming Panchayat Elections will prove costly for Naveen Patnaik who seems to pay no heed to the demands of the teachers. The process of grants to school was initiated by Biju Patnaik and on the birth centenary year of the great leader, we hope Naveen Patnaik wakes up,” said the Joint secretary of Odisha Teachers Association.
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On the other hand, the Block grant teachers have been agitating for the past three days demanding fulfilment of their nine-point charter of demands that include government takeover of grant-in-aid schools, uniform pay scale for similar job profiles and provision of all the facilities to block grant teachers which are being offered under mass education and secondary education systems.