Teachers protest: Inter-ministerial meeting remains inconclusive

Bhubaneswar: An inter-ministerial committee meeting to look into the seven-point charter of demands by the agitating teachers held under chairmanship of Finance Minister Shashi Bhusan Behera remained inconclusive on Tuesday.

Although the meeting discussed various points including service conditions and withdrawal of the 'controversial' affidavit clause prescribed in the Grant-in-Aid (GIA) Policy-2017, no consensus was reached. The delegation agreed to hold another round of meeting to discuss the demands

“Most of the demands have already been fulfilled during earlier meetings and two other demands put forth by the teachers are being discussed now. We will hold another meeting to find a solution to the problems of teachers,” Behera added.

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Meanwhile, the Odisha School College Teachers' and Employees' United Forum reiterated that the agitation will continue until the matter is resolved. The teachers have been staging a strike since past six days demanding abolition of block grant, full grant without any conditions, service conditions and pension benefits.

"The agitation will continue until a permanent solution is reached,” said Pabitra Mahala, convener of the united forum.