BHUBANESWAR: The 60,000 school and college teachers of the state who are on a strike against the government have decided to put their agitation on hold, as a ministerial committee formed to resolve their problems will meet on Tuesday. The strike has affected around 30 lakh students.
"Keeping in mind the inconvenience faced by our students, we decided to wait for the decision of the ministerial committee before taking a call. Now, we are taking part in the agitation on a rotation basis. Some teachers are attending classes so that studies are not affected. The government is least bothered about us," said
Golak Nayak, convenor of
Odisha School College Teachers and Employees United Forum.
The teachers said the government had failed to fulfil their demand for various facilities such as proper service conditions, leave rule, retirement benefits and pension in the new grant-in-aid policy.
The new policy was announced in September 2017 after the government abolished the
block grant system. Nearly a year since its introduction, the teachers are yet to get the benefits of the policy.
"The last time we staged a protest for our rights, the government told us it would fulfil our demands. We are not going to call off our strike this time. We may even lock up schools and boycott the coming elections," Nayak added.
The teachers have also been demanding the withdrawal of a controversial affidavit which the government had made mandatory to get the benefits of the grant-in-aid policy. "The government is testing our patience. It will be responsible if any untoward incident happens," he said.
